UN makes first aid air drop in Syria

Last week, 114 trucks loaded with food and other basic goods reached 80,000 people in five besieged areas and two more convoys were sent to two towns surrounded by government forces on Tuesday.

Local monitor Equality Group for Life in Deir Ezzor said in a statement on Wednesday that the aid that did make it to the ground intact fell in areas that could be reached without help from the Syrian army.

The UN says 200,000 civilians are living under siege in Deir al-Zour.

The UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, Stephen O’Brien, on Wednesday said that the announcement of a nationwide cessation of hostilities in Syria, scheduled to come into effect this weekend, is “a welcome development and a long-awaited signal of hope to the Syrian people”.

“The aircraft crew is highly experienced and have done numerous airdrops before but this was their first high altitude airdrop in Syria (at a height of 7,000 metres) and this operation is not without risk”, WFP spokeswoman Bettina Luescher said in an email.

Last summer, the United Nations brought aid to some 110,000 people in besieged areas.

United Nations convoys have already been delivering aid to the town of Kafir Batna, in a rebel-held area near Damascus – and other besieged areas.

Officials know where the remaining 11 pallets dropped, but they were hardly better off. Four of them landed within the vicinity of the drop zone but became badly damaged because their parachutes didn’t open, while the remaining seven are suspected to have landed in no-man’s land.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry has noted progress in the work of the humanitarian taskforce on Syria, saying humanitarian aid has started reaching all the settlements. The cease-fire will not cover the Islamic State group, al-Qaida’s Syria branch known as the Nusra Front and other militant groups.

Turkey’s prime minister has warned a Syrian Kurdish militia against taking advantage of an upcoming truce in Syria for actions that threaten Turkey’s security.

Zakharova also told reporters on Thursday that the US and Russian militaries have begun exchanging intelligence on terrorist groups in Syria.

“We’re all aware of the many potential pitfalls, and there are plenty of reasons for skepticism”, Obama said.

The main opposition alliance, which has deep reservations, said it would accept it for two weeks but feared the government and its allies would use it to attack opposition factions under the pretext that they were terrorists.

The announcement is further indication of the complexities of implementing the truce, which the government and opposition approved this week.