Syria: Aid Reaches Besieged Town of Madaya Amid Starvation Reports

Relieved residents of Madaya, which has been encircled by President Bashar al-Assad’s forces for six months, said they had resorted to extreme measures to survive.

“They are in grave peril of losing their lives”.

A Syrian boy waits with his family, who say they have received permission from the Syrian government to leave the besieged town, as they depart after an aid convoy entered Madaya, Syria January 11, 2016.

They include food, milk for children, blankets, and medicine for acute and chronic illness, as well as surgical supplies.

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power said the aid delivered to Madaya is “nowhere near enough” and stressed the importance of Syria allowing immediate humanitarian access for all those in need.

As many as 67 people have perished in the last two months as a result of starvation or scarcity of medical supplies, Dr. Mohammed Yousef, heading a local medical team, said.

Red Cross spokesman Pawel Krzysiek, who accompanied the aid convoy into Madaya, said the effects of the siege on residents were obvious.

World Health Organization representative Elizabeth Hoff said a door-to-door assessment was needed.

The UN security council discussed the situation in Syria at a meeting in NY on Monday called by New Zealand, Spain and France.

“But it must not be just a one-off distribution”.

“It’s not progress on the political front or progress on the humanitarian front”.

“Starving civilians is an inhuman tactic used by the Assad regime and their allies”, said British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft.

Mr O’Brien said that getting the 400 people out of Madaya could be as complicated as getting the aid in.

Civilians waiting Women cried out with relief as the first four trucks, carrying the banner of the Syria Red Crescent, crossed into Madaya after sunset, with civilians waiting on the outskirts of the town as the temperature dropped and it began to get dark.

On Sunday, he said five people died in the past 48 hours, including a 9-year-old child.

Iran’s Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli reasserted his country’s support for Syria at a joint press conference with his Syrian counterpart Mohammad al-Shaar in Damascus yesterday. People are similarly stuck in Foua and Kefraya, which rebel groups have blockaded since March.

Tales of hunger and hardship have emerged from those inside all three communities. Activists have reported several deaths from starvation over the past weeks in the affected areas, and images of starvation have been circulated across social media.

“There is no shortage of humanitarian assistance in Madaya”, he said, adding that some aid has been “looted by armed terrorist groups”.

Humanitarian groups are negotiating with the warring parties to remove 400 people from Madaya in order to provide them with life-saving emergency care. In interviews, they accused rebel fighters inside of hoarding humanitarian assistance that entered the town in October and selling the supplies to people at exorbitant prices.

Ghosn, who spoke to journalists accompanied by government officials, also blamed rebels in Madaya, saying: “Their depots are full while we go hungry. It’s cold and raining but there is excitement because we are here with food and blankets”.