Beirut - Arab Today
Syria’s regime bombarded a rebel-held town outside the capital Friday, a resident and a monitor said, preventing besieged residents from receiving food aid after its first such delivery in years.
A convoy of food aid — approved by Damascus — late Thursday reached the town of Daraya for the first time since the regime laid siege to the town in 2012.
“There has been intense random barrel bombing of the town since 9:00 am local time (0600 GMT),” a member of the local council told AFP, referring to the crude unguided explosive devices usually dropped by regime helicopters.
“Aid received by the council has not been distributed yet because of the intensity of the raids,” Shadi Matar said, adding that the raids were ongoing.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said regime helicopters had dropped at least 20 barrel bombs.
“Heavy barrel bombing on many areas of Daraya from the morning has stalled food aid distribution,” Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.
Lorries entered Daraya on Thursday with “food aid, including dry goods and flour, non-food aid as well as medical aid,” said Tamam Mehrez, operations director of the Syrian Red Crescent.
Source: Arab News