Reuters is reporting that around 250,000 civilians in Syria’s eastern Aleppo have run out of aid supplies, including food and medical necessities because the UN says Syria and its allies have refused to allow safe passage for a relief convoy.
U.N. humanitarian adviser Jan Egeland told Reuters, “My understanding is that virtually all warehouses are now empty and tens of thousands of families are running out of food.” He added that there are only 30 doctors left in the east of the city.
“It’s a dramatic situation in Aleppo, both west, which is Government-controlled, and in particular the [rebel-held] east which is totally besieged,” Mr. Egeland said. And with a “killer winter” approaching, the coming months look very bleak, Mr. Egeland added.
Opposition and monitoring groups have said dozens of people have been killed by the airstrikes and shelling, and this included hospitals as well, reports ABC.net.au.
The UN Humanitarian Mission has a four-point plan for Aleppo, one that involves bringing in relief and supplies to hospitals and civilians, evacuating the injured, and getting medical personnel into the east of Aleppo. But with winter looming and time running out, the UN is still waiting for a response from Damascus and Moscow.
The BBC is reporting that Najib Fakhoury, a volunteer with the White Helmets Civil Defense force, told the French news agency AFP his team has been unable to respond to emergencies because “the shells are falling on the street.” He added that he had “never heard such intense artillery bombardments.”
Actually, it is difficult deciding who is responsible for the bombings and deaths in Aleppo. Syria’s official news agency Sana says only three people have been killed due to rocket fire in the besieged part of the city, and Russia claims its air force was only active in Idlib and Homs provinces and they only shelled Islamic State groups. They were not operating in Aleppo.
So we are left to wonder who did kill the 65 civilians over the past four days, especially after the UK-based monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said at least 18 different neighborhoods had been hit by artillery and bombs, according to the BBC.
