UN: Aleppo Siege Could Cut Off Food Supplies to 300,000

New York, 2 Jumadil Awwal 1437/10 February 2016 (MINA) – Hundreds of thousands of Syrian civilians in opposition-held areas in Aleppo city are under threat of being cut off from basic food supplies amid expectations of a looming siege by government forces, the United Nations has warned.

The UN said on Tuesday that it is worried government advances could block the last link for civilians in rebel-held parts of Aleppo with the main Turkish border crossing, which has long served as the lifeline for those areas in Syria. Al Jazeera quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

“It would leave up to 300,000 people, still residing in the city, cut off from humanitarian aid unless…access could be negotiated,” the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.

“If government advances around the city continue”, it said, “local councils in the city estimate that some 100,000 to 150,000 civilians may flee,” it said.

Aleppo was once Syria’s biggest city and home to two million people.

Syrian government forces, backed by Russian air strikes and Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters, have launched a major offensive over the past week in the countryside around Aleppo, which has been divided between government and rebel control for years.

Locals have told Al Jazeera about their fears of a possible siege and the harsh effects of the conflict on food and fuel prices in the city.

Zaid Muhammad, a volunteer for Kesh Malek – a Syrian activist group in opposition-held districts of Aleppo, told Al Jazeera how Russian air strikes backing government forces have been “terrorising” civilians daily.

“For seven or eight hours a day they (warplanes) are invading the skies and terrorising the people psychologically,” he said. (T/P001/R04)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)