Aid convoys reach 3 Syria communities besieged for months
DAMASCUS,
Syria (AP) -- Aid convoys delivered long-awaited food, medicine
and other supplies to three besieged communities Monday, part of a
U.N.-supported operation to help tens of thousands of civilians cut off
for months by the war in Syria.
Reports of
starvation and images of emaciated children have raised global concerns
and underscored the urgency for new peace talks that the U.N. is hoping
to host in Geneva on Jan. 25.
Samantha Power,
the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said the U.N. reported at a
closed-door
briefing of the Security Council that more than 400 people
in the besieged town of Madaya "are on the brink of death and in need of
immediate medical evacuation."
The U.N. says
4.5 million Syrians are living in besieged or hard-to-reach areas and
desperately need humanitarian aid, with civilians prevented from leaving
and aid workers blocked from bringing in food, medicine, fuel and other
supplies.
It will take several days to
distribute the aid in Madaya, near Damascus, and the Shiite villages of
Foua and Kfarya in northern Syria, and the supplies are probably enough
to last for a month, aid agencies said.
"It's
really heartbreaking to see the situation of the people," said Red Cross
spokesman Pawel Krzysiek, who oversaw the distribution in Madaya. "A
while ago, I was just approached by a little girl and her first question
was, 'Did you bring food?'"
Added Sajjad
Malik, a representative of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees who
took part in the operation: "It's cold and raining, but there is
excitement because we are here with some food and blankets."
The
operation marked a small, positive development in a bitter conflict now
in its fifth year that has killed a quarter of a million people,
displaced millions of others and left the country in ruins.
Rebels
opposed to President Bashar Assad are in control of Madaya, a mountain
town about 15 miles (24 kilometers) northwest of Damascus. Government
troops and fighters from the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah have
surrounded the town. Opposition activists and aid groups have reported
several deaths from starvation in recent weeks.
Syria's
U.N. Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari denied anyone was starving in Madaya
and blamed Arab television especially "for fabricating these allegations
and lies."
Speaking at U.N. Headquarters, he
blamed "armed terrorist groups" for stealing humanitarian aid and
reselling it at prohibitive prices.
"The Syrian government is not and will not exert any policy of starvation against its own people," Ja'afari said.
An
Associated Press crew saw the first three trucks cross into Madaya on
Monday, although journalists were not allowed to accompany the aid
workers. At the town's entrance, several civilians - including five
children shivering against the cold - said they were waiting to be taken
out.
"I want out. There is nothing in Madaya,
no water, no electricity, no fuel and no food," said Safiya Ghosn, a
teacher who stood at the entrance of the town hoping to be evacuated.
Simultaneously,
trucks began entering Foua and Kfarya, which are both under siege by
rebel groups hundreds of miles (kilometers) to the north.
Tales
of hunger and hardship have emerged from those inside all three
communities: Pro-government fighters recently evacuated from inside Foua
and Kfarya have said some residents are eating grass to survive.
Residents of Madaya similarly have reported living off soup made of
leaves and salt water.
Madaya has attracted
particular attention in recent days because of reports of deaths and
images in social media of severely malnourished residents. The aid
operation, which is being facilitated by the U.N., was agreed on last
week.
Some Assad supporters have said the photos were faked, and others alleged the rebels were withholding food from residents.
The
aid group Doctors Without Borders says 23 people have died of
starvation at a health center it supports in Madaya since Dec. 1,
including six infants and five adults over 60.
Krzysiek,
the Red Cross spokesman, said in a statement that he saw a lot of
people on the street, "some of them smiling to us and waving to us, but
many just simply too weak."
Almost 42,000
people in the town are at risk from hunger, said Yacoub El Hillo, the
U.N.'s Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria.
Hezbollah's
Al-Manar TV channel showed a group of people, including women and
children, waiting for the convoys at Madaya's main entrance. In
interviews, they accused rebel fighters inside of hoarding humanitarian
assistance that entered the town in October and selling the supplies to
residents 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. We
have to humiliate ourselves to go to them and beg for food."
The
trucks in Madaya were carrying humanitarian aid including food and
health supplies, blankets, materials for shelters and soap, said U.N.
spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
"We continue to
call on all parties to the conflict to facilitate sustained and
unimpeded access to all people in besieged and hard-to-reach areas in
Syria," Dujarric said.
The U.N.'s World Food
Program has said it will ship one month's worth of food for more than
40,000 people in Madaya from Damascus and enough for 20,000 people to
Foua and Kfarya from the city of Homs.
A group
of eight major international aid groups, including CARE International,
Oxfam, and Save the Children, welcomed the aid convoy but also warned
that a one-time delivery won't save starving people.
"Only
a complete end to the 6-month-old siege and guarantees for sustained
aid deliveries alongside humanitarian services will alleviate the crisis
in these areas," the statement said.
Peter
Wilson, Britain's deputy U.N. ambassador, said in New York it was "good
news that those convoys are getting through, although it's little and
it's late."
"It's important to remember that
Madaya represents only 10 percent of those who are under siege and 1
percent of those who need aid in Syria," he added.
In
Homs, meanwhile, regional Gov. Talal Barazzi said a 26-car convoy of
food and clothing entered the Waer neighborhood of Homs as part of an
agreement reached last month between the Syrian government and militants
in the area. The deal earlier saw the evacuation of 720 people from
Waer, including 300 militants.
In reports of
fighting Monday, the state-run SANA news agency reported that a rocket,
presumably fired by rebels, hit a residential neighborhood in the
northern city of Aleppo, killing three children and wounding two other
people. It said the Syrian army had begun a major offensive in the
countryside west of the city.
