UN convoys delivering aid to thousands of besieged Syrians were due to set out on Wednesday, but hopes for lasting peace dimmed the day after Turkey called for a ground operation in its war-torn neighbour.
Syria’s Government has approved access to seven besieged areas, including the city of Madaya where dozens of people are thought to have died from starvation, a spokeswoman for the UN’s humanitarian affairs office said.
Speaking in Damascus, UN envoy Staffan de Mistura said aid convoys will be sent today in what will be a test of whether the warring parties will allow in humanitarian supplies. “It is the duty of the government of Syria to want to reach every Syrian person wherever they are and allow the UN to bring humanitarian aid,” he said after meeting Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid Muallem. “Tomorrow we test this,” he said on Tuesday.
Almost half a million people in Syria are in areas under seige, according to the UN, after almost five years of civil war between Syria’s government and rebel forces. A Red Crescent source said the first convoys will head for the rebel-besieged Shiite villages of Fuaa and Kafraya in the north, and to Madaya and Zabadani, which are encircled by the army.