Humanitarian Aid Delivered to Syria’s Besieged Towns
DAMASCUS (Tasnim) – The first batch of humanitarian aid reached the besieged Syrian towns of Madaya, Foua, and Kefraya, where, according to the United Nations, people are suffering from serious malnutrition.
According to Tasnim dispatches, food, medical items, blankets and other materials are being delivered to the towns of Madaya in rural Damascus, and Foua and Kefraya near the city of Idlib.
The cargo reached the Syrians on Monday afternoon under the supervision of the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and Syrian Arab Red Crescent (IFRC).
Pawel Krzysiek, a spokesman for the ICRC, told reporters that 44 trucks entered Madaya and 21 ones arrived in Kefraya and Foua.
This was the first batch, and more aid will be delivered on Thursday, Krzysiek added.
“The operation has started. It is likely to last a few days. This is a very positive development,” said the head of the ICRC delegation in Syria, Marianne Gasser. “But it must not be just a one-off distribution. To relieve the suffering of these tens of thousands of people, there has to be regular access to these areas.”
There are believed to be around 40,000 people in Madaya and around 20,000 people in Foua and Kefraya. The operation has been brokered by the UN with the agreement of the different parties on the ground.
The head of humanitarian aid for the UN Stephen O’Brien estimates around 400 people in the besieged Syrian town need urgent medical treatment, and is calling for an emergency evacuation of the “seriously malnourished” from Madaya.
“Around 400 people have been identified who must be evacuated immediately. We must seek to do this and put the arrangements in place as soon as at all possible for medical treatment or they are in grave peril of losing their lives.” said O’Brien.
However, Syrian Ambassador to the UN Bashar Jaafari told reporters in New York his government was committed to “cooperate fully” on aid delivery but said much of what was said about Madaya is based on “false information.”
He dismissed pictures of starving people as “fabrications.”
“There is no shortage of humanitarian assistance in Madaya,” he added, saying that some aid has been “looted” by armed terrorist groups.
Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi has also dismissed as “false and fabricated” the propaganda raised about the conditions of Madayan people, saying such news outlets as Al-Arabiya and Al Jazeera are fabricating images to incite sedition.
“The Syrian government has agreed on the dispatch of humanitarian aid to Madaya, Baqin, Kefraya, and Foua,” Halqi stressed in a meeting with Iran’s Interior Minister Aboldreza Rahmani Fazli in Damascus.
“Armed terrorists have prevented the delivery of these aid to Foua and Kefraya,” he added.
