A two-day ceasefire has been agreed in the Syrian town of Darayya near, Damascus, starting from Wednesday to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid to the residents.
The five-year Syrian crisis, which Assad regime is the root cause of it, resulted in killing more than 400.000 Syrians and displacing more than 7 millions out of their homes, either remained inside Syria of fled the war. Other tens of thousands found themselves besieged in their own towns and cities, with no access to the basic needs,Darayya is one of them.
“On the initiative of Russia and in agreement with the leadership of Syria and the American side a ‘regime of silence’ has been introduced for 48 hours on June 1 2016 from 00:01 am in the settlement of Darayya to ensure the safe delivery of humanitarian aid to the population,” said Lieutenant General Sergei Kuralenko, the head of the Russian “coordination center” in Syria.
Darayya has been under a crippling siege since four years, not allowing civilians to flee or humanitarian aids to enter. The town was targeted daily with airstrikes and explosive barrels.
These aid convoys are the first since 4 years.
On May 24, Russia called for a three-day regime of silence in the conflict zones of Eastern Ghouta and Darayya near Damascus, urging the US to push militants under its influence to join the truce.
UN demands Assad regime to stop blocking aid deliveries in Syria
The United Nations’ humanitarian chief demanded last Friday that the Assad regime and the armed groups stop interfering with the delivery of food and medicine for civilians trapped in besieged and difficult-to-reach areas in Syria
“The continued use of siege and starvation as a weapon of war is reprehensible,” U.N. under-secretary-general Stephen O’Brien told the 15-nation Security Council.
“Based on the latest information, we now estimate that some 592,700 people are currently living in besieged areas,” he said, adding that most of those were surrounded by government forces.
O’Brien said the Assad regime, and to a lesser extent the militant groups fighting the government and against each other, deliberately interfere with and restrict aid deliveries.
He added that the parties to the conflict also continued to cut off crucial medical supplies from aid convoys.
“The removal of life-saving medicines and medical supplies such as surgical kits, midwifery kits, and emergency kits has continued unabated, with supplies for an estimated 150,000 treatments removed from convoys since the beginning of the year,” he said.
Since February 2014, medical supplies for over 650,000 treatments have been taken from aid convoys, O’Brien said.
