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Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), with government consent, were able to make a rare aid delivery in rebel-held parts of Aleppo province, a spokesman said on Monday.
“Together with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, we were able to deliver food assistance and other essential items such as kitchen sets, hygiene kits, blankets, mattresses to an area called Arum in western Aleppo that is under opposition control”, ICRC spokesman Ralph El Hage said. Despite the fact that the seven-truck convoy was able to carry aid for around 30,000 people, El Hage said that “relative to the needs in the area this is little”.
He added that the delivery came a day after the ICRC delivered medical aid to four hospitals, two of which were run by the government, in rebel-held areas of Aleppo city. Aleppo has been controlled by rebels in the east and the government in the west after fighting began in 2012.
“Together with SARC, we were able to deliver medical assistance to two hospitals on the government side, Ar-Razi government hospital and Al-Askari military hospital.And we delivered to two hospitals on the opposition side, in Sukkari and Shaar districts, crossing through the Bustan al-Qasr crossing with the SARC”, he said.
The Syrian government rarely grants permission for aid deliveries to rebel-controlled areas; the ICRC only operates when it obtains consent from both the regime and the rebels. Other aid groups, however, have delivered aid to rebel-held territory via the Turkish border, defying objections made by the Syrian government that such behavior violates sovereignty.
The UN Security Council in February called for free humanitarian access in Syria. However, the resolution has mostly not been given any heed; last month, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon blamed the government for blocking deliveries.