Aid convoys head toward 3 besieged Syria villages

Aid convoys are heading to besieged villages in northern Syria and near the Lebanese border on Monday, Syria’s official news agency and humanitarian groups say, as residents gather in the streets for desperately needed food and medicine.

SANA says the deliveries are headed toward the adjacent Shiite villages of Foua and Kfarya in Idlib province, under siege by rebels seeking to oust President Bashar Assad, as well as toward Madaya, which is blockaded by government troops and the Lebanese Hezbollah militant group.

The aid operation was agreed on last week. Activists report several deaths from starvation over the past weeks in the affected areas, and images of starvation have been circulated across social media.

The United Nations and Red Cross also report that the convoys are on their way, while the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the aid is expected to reach the towns in the coming hours.

— AP