Syrians Evacuated from Kefraya, Foua Recount Ordeal under Siege
DAMASCUS (Tasnim) – Residents of the towns of Kefraya and Foua in Syria’s Idlib province who were recently evacuated as part of a deal between Damascus and Takfiri groups recounted their ordeals at the hands of terrorists when they were under a two-year siege.
They told Tasnim dispatches that they had been deprived of the basic amenities, including water, foodstuffs, and medical supplies since the siege started two years ago.
Recently, a convoy of 18 buses transported nearly 1,000 evacuees, including the wounded and sick, from Foua and Kefraya to the recently liberated Syrian city of Aleppo.
Upon their arrival to Aleppo, men, women and children were warmly received by a jubilant crowd in the northwestern city.
“(The terrorists) dropped shells on our heads every day. Our children had to go to bed hungry (every night). What else can I tell you?” a weeping mother told Tasnim.
She added, “My son does not know how to eat an orange. He has forgotten this fruit, because he was two years old when the siege started.”
Another woman said, “There was no food, drinking water, and medicine. Our children and youths are dying under the rubbles (of the collapsed building).”
Other people expressed the hope that the siege on their fellow countrymen would end in the two towns as soon as possible because there is a real tragedy going on there due to hunger, illness, and continuaed shellfire.
According to Syrian media, evacuation of the wounded and civilians trapped in the two Shiite-populated towns was a condition for the evacuation of militants in eastern Aleppo. Not all the residents have been evacuated yet.
Recently, Russia and Turkey reached a deal enabling the evacuation of thousands of trapped civilians and militants from Aleppo.
The process was, however, halted after the militants violated the ceasefire deal and blocked the transfer of civilians from Foua and Kefraya.
Foua and Kefraya are the only government-held enclave in Idlib's militant-held area. The towns of some 20,000 people have been under siege since 2013. The humanitarian situation remains dire, with a lack of food and basic necessities.
