Aid reaches besieged Damascus suburb: Red Cross
Date
2/7/2016 11:11:28 PM
(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Syrian Arab Red Crescent volunteers prepare the food parcels to be distributed in Mouadamiya. Ibrahim Malla/IFRC
BEIRUT: The Red Cross said on Sunday it had delivered more food and hygiene kits for around 3500 people in the besieged Syrian suburb of Mouadamiya near Damascus expecting to send more in coming days.
But no aid was sent to the neighbouring also besieged southwestern suburb of Daraya which was cut off from Mouadamiya on Friday when Syrian government forces took full control of a strip of land used as a supply route between the two rebel-held areas tightening a three-year siege.
This delivery to 700 families by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Syrian Arab Red Crescent follows a similar operation earlier in the week which provided food for more than 12000 people and medical supplies for 10000 people.
The ICRC has said that regular access to this and other besieged areas in Syria is needed.
Rebel-held Daraya borders a military airport used by Russian planes - which have been conducting air strikes for President Bashar al-Assad since September - and the Syrian government is keen to wrest back control of the area.
The government offensive to take the land separating Daraya from Mouadamiya which has a population of around 45000-50000 began in early December
Speaking about the separation of the two suburbs a rebel spokesman told Reuters that the government is now trying to starve out Daraya’s population.
(Reporting by Lisa Barrington; Editing by Stephen Powell)
Reuters