UN official warns of food crisis in besieged Syrian towns

The UN humanitarian aid coordinator for Syria, Jan Egeland, says the threat of children dying from malnutrition hangs over at least three communities besieged by government troops.

Access to besieged areas in Syria has fallen short of what was planned for May, Egeland said. Out of 1 million people, only 160,000 have been reached with aid so far, he says, citing problems including government restrictions.

Two Damascus suburbs, Daraya and Moadamiyeh, and a district in the central city of Homs, al-Waer, all besieged by government forces, are locations where the situation “is still horrendously critical,” he adds. “Children are so malnourished in these places that they will be dying if we are not able to reach them.”

Additionally, activists in Daraya say government forces shelled several areas in the town Thursday, attempting to advance from the south in violation of a cease-fire. There were no reports of casualties.

Members of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent deliver aid to the besieged rebel bastion of Douma, a flashpoint near the Syrian capital on May 26, 2016. AFP/Abd Doumany)

The International Support Group of Syria, which includes the US, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey, had set a June 1 deadline for the resumption of humanitarian aid to areas cut off from the outside world, saying if land routes remain blocked, food aid will be air dropped.

At least seven hundred tons of aid has been air dropped on at least 110,000 people in areas besieged by Islamic State fighters in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour.

— AP