Al Jazeera News :
Aid convoys have departed for besieged Syrian towns where thousands are trapped and the US says people are reported to have died of starvation.
Trucks headed for Madaya, near the Lebanese border, and two villages in the northwest of the country on Monday, the Red Cross said, as part of an agreement between rival sides.
The vehicles were to simultaneously enter rebel-held Madaya, which has been blockaded for months by pro-government forces and where aid agencies have warned of widespread starvation, and Foua and Kefraya in Idlib province, which are encircled by rebel groups, including the al-Nusra Front.
The blockade of Madaya has become a focal issue for Syrian opposition leaders who told a UN envoy last week they will not take part in talks with the government until it and other sieges are lifted.
A Reuters witness said dozens more ICRC-marked trucks were also preparing to
depart from Damascus for Madaya. Vehicles heading for Foua and Kefraya, nearly 300km away, had departed earlier.
The UN said on Thursday the Syrian government had agreed to allow access to Madaya, where the world body says there have been credible reports of people dying of starvation.
Aid convoys have departed for besieged Syrian towns where thousands are trapped and the US says people are reported to have died of starvation.
Trucks headed for Madaya, near the Lebanese border, and two villages in the northwest of the country on Monday, the Red Cross said, as part of an agreement between rival sides.
The vehicles were to simultaneously enter rebel-held Madaya, which has been blockaded for months by pro-government forces and where aid agencies have warned of widespread starvation, and Foua and Kefraya in Idlib province, which are encircled by rebel groups, including the al-Nusra Front.
The blockade of Madaya has become a focal issue for Syrian opposition leaders who told a UN envoy last week they will not take part in talks with the government until it and other sieges are lifted.
A Reuters witness said dozens more ICRC-marked trucks were also preparing to
depart from Damascus for Madaya. Vehicles heading for Foua and Kefraya, nearly 300km away, had departed earlier.
The UN said on Thursday the Syrian government had agreed to allow access to Madaya, where the world body says there have been credible reports of people dying of starvation.
