Aid reaches starving civilians in Eastern Ghouta

Aid has reached starving civilians trapped in the Eastern Ghouta, a rebel-held area outside Damascus, for the first time in more than a year. Supplies for 40,000 people were allowed into the towns of Kafra Batna and Saqba on Monday, according to the UN. It comes days after the UN human rights chief said the […]

Aid has reached starving civilians trapped in the Eastern Ghouta, a rebel-held area outside Damascus, for the first time in more than a year.

Supplies for 40,000 people were allowed into the towns of Kafra Batna and Saqba on Monday, according to the UN.

It comes days after the UN human rights chief said the plight of civilians living there was “an outrage” that might constitute a war crime.

Some 350,000 people have been besieged by pro-government forces since 2013.

The convoy of 49 trucks was carrying “8,000 food parcels and a similar number of bags of flour, medicine, medical supplies, and other nutritional materials”, Mona Kurdi, a Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) spokeswoman, told AFP news agency.

The aid would also be distributed to Hamouria and Ain Tarma, the SARC said.