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Humanitarian convoy to deliver aid in western Syria, UN says

Xinhua, March 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

An inter-agency humanitarian convoy is to deliver food parcels, nutrition supplies and hygiene kits for some 56,000 people in Al Houla, Homs, in western Syria, a UN spokesman said here on Tuesday.

"An additional convoy is planned in the coming days to bring further supplies to the area, to reach a total of 71,000 people," Farhan Haq, the deputy UN spokesman, told reporters here.

"Surgical items were removed from today's convoy by Syrian authorities," Haq said. "This practice continues to lead to unnecessary suffering and loss of life."

"The United Nations continues to urge the government of Syria to allow the inclusion of all medical supplies, including surgical items," he said.

"The UN continues to call for unconditional, unimpeded and sustained access to all the 4.6 million people in the besieged and hard-to-reach locations across Syria," Haq added.

On Monday, Haq said that an inter-agency humanitarian convoy was on its way to Big Orem in Syria's Aleppo Governorate to deliver much-needed humanitarian assistance to some 50,000 people.

Big Orem was last reached by the Syrian Arab Red Crescent in January 2016 with medical supplies.

In mid-February, aid convoys loaded with food and medicine to relieve starving civilians have entered five besieged areas in Syria.

The convoys, announced by UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, entered the Damascus suburb of Moadamiyah, which is under siege from forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, as well as Fua and Kefraya, which are besieged by rebels.

Humanitarian agencies believe that more than a million people are living under siege in Syria in dozens of locations, the vast majority of which are sieges imposed by the regime, according to media reports. Endit