Aid Convoy Enters Besieged Rebel-Held Damascus Suburbs in Syria

Desperate for food and basic medicines, many of the besieged and bombarded Syrian civilians in Damascus' eastern suburbs of Ghouta waited on Monday as a 46-truck convoy organized by the United Nations and key aid agencies began entering the rebel-held enclave.

The U.N.'s humanitarian office said the convoy with health and nutrition supplies, along with food for 27,500 people in need, entered the town of Douma in the besieged eastern Ghouta. In a Twitter posting, it said however that many life-saving health supplies were not allowed to be loaded.

The delivery would be the first to the region in nearly three weeks and the first to Douma, the largest and most populated town in eastern Ghouta, since November.

U.N. officials had said that lack of approvals and consensus among the warring parties, as well as the limited duration of a daily, five-hour Russian-ordered humanitarian pause, had made aid delivery impossible.

Eastern Ghouta, home to some 400,000 people, has been under a crippling siege and daily bombardment for months. More than 600 civilians have been killed in the last two weeks alone.

"This delivery of assistance is a first positive step that would lessen the suffering of the civilians in the area," said Ingy Sedky, a spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Damascus.

"However, more needs to be done in the coming period," she added. "A one-time aid delivery will never be enough to fulfil the needs. Repeated and continuous access to Eastern Ghouta by humanitarian organizations is a must."

Sedky said Monday's delivery includes 5,500 food and flour bags enough for 27,500 people, in addition to wheat flour, medical and surgical items.

Pawel Krzysiek of the International Committee of the Red Cross said...