HUMANITARIAN AID CONVOY ENTERED BESIEGED SYRIA TOWN OF MADAYA

Madaya, 2 Rabi’ul Akhir 1437/12/January 2016 (MINA) – A humanitarian aid convoy on Monday (01/12) entered the besieged Syrian town of Madaya, where more than two dozen people are reported to have died of starvation, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent said.

Two trucks carrying food and two others full of blankets entered Madaya at 5:00 pm (1500 GMT), an official from the organisation told AFP, referring to the rebel-held town besieged by the army for six months.

At around the same time, three trucks entered Fuaa and three others Kafraya, said a military source on the ground there.

Fuaa and Kafraya are two regime-held towns besieged by rebels that are also getting aid as part of an agreement between the government of President Bashar Al-Assad and opposition forces.

Earlier in the afternoon, 44 trucks operated by the Red Crescent, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the United Nations and its World Food Programme had set out from Damascus for Madaya, The Peninsula quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

Twenty-one trucks carrying aid headed separately for Fuaa and Kafraya, which are more than 300 kilometres (180 miles) from Damascus, while Madaya is about 40 kilometres from the capital.

The trucks are carrying food, water, infant formula, blankets and medication for acute and chronic illnesses, as well as surgical supplies.

The Syrian government has allowed the aid through to Madaya after images of emaciated children and adults from the town prompted worldwide condemnation and outrage.  (T/Imt/R07)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)