An international aid convoy crossed a final Syrian army checkpoint and began to enter the besieged, rebel-held enclave of eastern Ghouta, a Reuters witness said on Monday.
Separately, Ali al-Za’tari, a senior United Nations official with the convoy, told Reuters it would take “many hours” to offload the aid in the enclave and that it might be “well after nightfall” before it could leave eastern Ghouta.
Russian soldiers are seen securing Syrian Arab Red Crescent trucks carrying aid at a checkpoint near the Wafideen camp in Damascus on Monday. (Omar Sanadiki/Reuters)
Al-Za’tari said the convoy consists of 46 truckloads of supplies, with food for 27,500 people.
The only other UN delivery of aid to eastern Ghouta so far this year was on Feb. 14, when a convoy with assistance for 7,200 people reached Nashabiyah, one of three eastern Ghouta towns regime forces seized control of last Saturday.
Pawel Krzysiek of the International Committee of the Red Cross said Monday’s convoy had arrived in Wafideen, a key crossing point set up by the Syrian government for civilians wishing to leave eastern Ghouta and also for aid to enter the enclave.
“Feels like racing with time,” Krzysiek said in a tweet.
Eastern Ghouta, home to some 400,000 people, has been under a crippling siege and daily bombardment for months. More than 600 civilians have been killed in the last two weeks alone.
