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From the Liveblog of Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Aid trucks still idling on Syrian highway

17 February 2016, 4:16 pm

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Trucks carrying humanitarian assistance destined for besieged areas near Damascus are still parked on a highway on the edge of the capital.

A convoy of humanitarian aid waits in front of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) offices before making their way into the government besieged rebel-held towns of Madaya, al-Zabadani and al-Moadhamiya in the Damascus countryside, as part of a UN-sponsored aid operation, in Damascus, Syria, Wednesday, February 17, 2016. (AP) — A convoy of humanitarian aid waits in front of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) offices before making their way into the government besieged rebel-held towns of Madaya, al-Zabadani and al-Moadhamiya in the Damascus countryside, as part of a UN-sponsored aid operation, in Damascus, Syria, February 17, 2016. (AP)

Over 100 trucks carrying food baskets, medicine and milk are expected according to an agreement between the Syrian government and the UN to begin entering five besieged areas on Wednesday, including rebel-held suburbs of the Syrian capital. Aid would simultaneously be delivered to communities in the north that are besieged by rebels.

Scores of trucks belonging to the Syrian Red Crescent are still parked on the side of the highway at the entrance to Damascus.

An aid official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give official statements, says the delay is due to “purely logistical” reasons.

— AP

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