Syria’s besieged Daraya gets first aid since 2012

A food aid convoy on Thursday night entered the Syrian town of Daraya, the first delivery since the start of the siege there by the Damascus regime in 2012, a Red Crescent official told AFP.

“Nine lorries are currently being unloaded in Daraya. They are carrying food aid, including dry goods and flour, non-food aid as well as medical aid,” said Tamam Mehrez, operations director of the Red Crescent.

The aid delivered would be sufficient for one month, Mr Mehrez added, without specifying how many people would benefit.

Earlier on Thursday, the UN said Syria had given approval for humanitarian convoys to reach all of the country’s 19 besieged areas, including Daraya, by the end of the month.

The UN envoy to the country, Staffan de Mistura, however, told reporters in Geneva that Syria had given such approvals in the past before ultimately blocking convoys from distributing life-saving supplies.

He made the comments after the weekly meeting of the Syria humanitarian taskforce, co-chaired by the US and Russia, which has for months been trying to boost aid supplies to millions of Syrians in need.

That taskforce has faced pressure, including from France and Britain, to start air-dropping aid into besieged areas, with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s military continuing to block road convoys. Mr de Mistura said the pressure placed on Damascus by air drops had led to the road convoy approvals.