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Syria crisis: Siege victims await aid convoys Syria crisis: Aid lorries set off for besieged areas
(about 5 hours later)
Aid convoys are due to be sent to Syria's besieged areas, UN envoy Staffan de Mistura has said. Aid convoys are preparing to deliver desperately-needed food and medicine to five besieged towns in Syria.
He said it would be a test of whether warring parties were committed to allowing in humanitarian supplies. A spokesman for the International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC) told the BBC lorries had begun leaving Damascus.
Among the areas due to receive aid is the town of Madaya, where people have been dying of starvation. They will head to rebel-held Madaya, Zabadani and Muadhamiya, near the capital, and to the pro-government northern villages of Foah and Kefraya.
World powers last week agreed to seek a nationwide "cessation of hostilities" and to accelerate and expand aid deliveries. The deliveries are part of an agreement that world powers hope will lead to a "cessation of hostilities" by Friday.
However, offensives by Syrian government forces and Kurdish militia fighters on rebel-held areas of the northern province of Aleppo have dimmed hopes for a truce.
'Test' for government
Almost half a million people live in besieged areas in Syria, according to the UN.
On Tuesday, the Syrian government approved humanitarian access to seven areas deemed by the 17-member International Syria Support Group (ISSG) to be most in need of relief. Five will receive aid on Wednesday, with Kafr Batna and Deir al-Zour expected to be relieved later this week.
Stephen Ryan, a spokesman for the IFRC, told the BBC that the joint UN and Syrian Arab Red Crescent convoys that left Damascus on Wednesday morning were carrying food, non-food items, medical equipment and medicines.
Where the aid is goingWhere the aid is going
The seven areas named by the UN are:The seven areas named by the UN are:
"It is the duty of the government of Syria to want to reach every Syrian person wherever they are and allow the UN to bring humanitarian aid," Mr de Mistura said after talks in Damascus on Tuesday. Syria: The story of the conflict
"Tomorrow we test this." "It is the duty of the government of Syria to want to reach every Syrian person wherever they are and allow the UN to bring humanitarian aid," UN special envoy Staffan de Mistura said on Tuesday evening after meeting Foreign Minister Walid Muallem. "Tomorrow we test this."
The Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad earlier approved humanitarian access to seven areas which are besieged, either by government troops or rebel groups. The partial cessation of hostilities - which does not apply to the jihadist groups al-Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda affiliate that is part of a prominent rebel alliance, and the rival Islamic State (IS) - is also due to come into force across the country as part of the plan agreed by the ISSG in Munich last Thursday.
The areas are those deemed by the 17-member International Syria Support Group to be most in need of relief. US state department spokesman stressed on Tuesday that Washington wanted to "see some progress" in the coming days, but he added: "I can't say categorically that a week from last Thursday there must be a cessation of hostilities."
Almost half a million people live in besieged areas, according to the UN. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has cast doubts on both the deadline and the concept of a cessation of hostilities "between a state and terrorists", a term he uses to describe all armed opponents to his rule.
The cessation of hostilities - which does not apply to jihadist groups - is due to come into force later this week. Government forces, backed by heavy Russian air strikes, have meanwhile been gaining territory to the north-west of the city of Aleppo and are threatening to encircle rebel-held districts.
But President Assad has cast doubts on the move, warning it would be "difficult" to implement and would not mean all parties would stop using weapons. Earlier this week, a series of air and missile strikes on at least five health facilities and schools in two rebel-held towns - Azaz, near the Turkish border in Aleppo province, and Maarat al-Numan, in neighbouring Idlib province - killed up to 50 people.
Government forces, backed by Russian air power, have been advancing in the north towards Syria's biggest city and commercial centre, Aleppo. They are on the brink of encircling the rebel-held east of the city. 'Secure strip'
Earlier this week, a series of rocket attacks on several hospitals and schools in areas close to Aleppo killed up to 50 people. The Turkish government, which supports the rebels and considers the Kurdish militia as hostile, wants to secure a 10km (6-mile) strip of territory on the Syrian side of its border to protect ethnic Turkmen and Arab communities who have fled the fighting.
Save the Children said seven healthcare facilities were hit - more than was previously reported. "There is a game being played with the aim of changing the demographic structure. Turkey should not be part of this game," Deputy Prime Minister Yalcin Akdogan told A Haber TV on Wednesday.
Turkey has blamed Russia for the strikes, which the UN has said could constitute war crimes. Turkey, which is home to more than 2.6 million Syrian refugees, has long pushed for the creation of a buffer zone in northern Syria, but has faced resistance from the US and its Nato allies.
Russia said it "categorically rejects" accusations of war crimes. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the BBC that the only proof Russia would accept from the ground "comes from the Syrian authorities". Mr Assad has warned that any ground incursion will have "global repercussions".