Aid deliveries to starving Syrian towns to begin Monday

Aid deliveries bringing food, medical supplies and blankets to three towns in Syria where residents say they are starving to death will begin by tomorrow or Monday, a Red Cross official has said.

The official called for humanitarian organisations to be granted unimpeded access to all areas under siege in Syria, saying one-off deliveries were not enough to prevent civilians from starving.

“We were granted access yesterday [Thursday] but the operation won’t happen before Sunday or Monday,” said Pawel Krzysiek, the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) spokesman in Syria. “We are sorting out a few details.

"This time it's a bigger drop. The ICRC is bringing food, medicines and non-food goods such as blankets and hygiene kits. It will go to Madaya and at the same time to Fua and Kefraya."

Under siege

The last aid delivery to the three towns, which are under siege by pro-government and opposition forces, took place in October.

“What we have seen and heard in Zabadani, Madaya, Fua and Kefraya during our visit in October was that people were hungry and there was not enough food,” said Mr Krzysiek.

“We must be granted unimpeded access to all besieged areas on a regular basis as the one-time drops will never be enough considering the desperate situation of people who have been cut off from essential supplies for months.”

On Thursday, the UN said the Syrian government had agreed to allow aid into Madaya as well as Fua and Kefraya, after images of emaciated children and starving men from the first town sparked global outrage and condemnation.

Madaya, located 1,300 metres above sea level in a mountainous region straddling the border with Lebanon, is home to 30,000 people who have been under siege since July, as part of a complicated power play.

Population swap

Their fate is tied to Fua and Kefraya, two Shia villages in northern Syria besieged by rebels belonging to a coalition called Jaysh al-Fateh.

Backers of the government and the rebels are attempting to orchestrate a population swap but it has been repeatedly delayed.

Médecins sans Frontières said on Thursday night that 23 people had died of starvation in Madaya since December 1st.

Residents said people had been forced to scour minefields for grass to eat along with tree leaves and water flavoured with spices to stave off starvation.

Prices of staples have skyrocketed amid the siege, with a kilogram of rice costing about $250. – (Guardian service)