PHOTO: Residents of Madaya in Damascus Province await aid on Monday

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The head of the UN’s relief efforts for Syria has called on all sides to lift sieges on towns throughout the country, allowing access to aid agencies to deliver food, medical care, and essential supplies.

“The immediate thing to be done is to lift sieges everywhere,” Yacoub El Hillo said on Tuesday.

On Monday, Hillo was part of an aid convoy which finally reached the besieged town of Madaya in Damascus Province, where an estimated 60 people have died of starvation since December 1 amid a six-month siege by the Syrian military and Hezbollah. The Assad regime had finally relented and permitted the convoy — only the second since last July — after international attention to the plight of about 40,000 residents.

At the same time, assistance was sent into the regime enclaves of al-Fu’ah and Kafraya in northwest Syria. An estimated 12,500 people have long been surrounded by rebels who control almost all of Idlib Province.

The UN reported in November that almost 400,000 Syrians are living under siege — 200,000 by the Islamic State in Deir ez-Zor Province in eastern Syria; 181,000 by the regime across the country; and the 12,500 in al-Fu’ah and Kafraya.

Hillo said on Tuesday that he saw severely malnourished people, especially children, and others who had gone hungry for a long time in Madaya. He said some people resembled “skeletons that are now barely moving.”

The convoy delivered food rations meant to last one month for a family of five, the UN said. Another convoy is scheduled for Thursday.

The UN’s Hillo rebuffed the Assad regime’s claims that the starvation was faked:

We saw what we saw. We saw people that are desperate. We saw people that are cold, people that are hungry, people that have almost lost hope that the world cares about their plight.

For some residents in Madaya, Monday’s shipment brought hope. Ebreham Abbas told The Guardian of London:

[blockquote>[My voice is] different mostly because our spirits are high now.

They finished unloading the trucks in our area at around 3.30am. Each family got sugar, 10 kg (22 lbs) of rice, hummus, green beans, two cans of tomato paste, six cans of beans, and salt.

At the same time, he noted, “There is a lingering sadness in our hearts because people are wondering if this aid is just a momentary painkiller, if people will forget us again.”

Stephene Dujarric, a spokesman for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, warned, “One convoy will not solve the problem.”

And the UN’s Hillo concluded, “Many more will die if the world does not move faster.”

Rebels Support Turkey Against Assad Regime, Islamic State, and Kurdish Groups

Rebels have issued a statement of support for Turkey against the Assad regime, the Islamic State, the Turkish Kurdish insurgency PKK, and the Syrian Kurdish party PYD.

The statement was issued in response to Tuesday’s suicide bombing in Istanbul, which killed 10 people and wounded 15. Turkish authorities said a Syrian member of ISIS was responsible.

The rebels declared “total solidarity” with Ankara “against those who try to threaten her security or stability”. Reiterating that the Assad regime was the “single source” of terrorism in the region, it also cited the Islamic State, PKK, and PYD as “terrorist organizations”.

Meanwhile, Turkey has again asked the US for an effective train-and-equip program for rebels in northern Syria.

Ankara made the request during a visit by the Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph F. Dunford, last week.

The Obama Administration authorized $500 million in autumn 2014 to train and equip rebels, but the program foundered over logistics and objectives — the US wanted the rebels to focus on the Islamic State, while the prospective fighters had the priority of challenging the Assad regime. Washington eventually deployed about 120 men inside Syria, but one group was attacked by Jabhat al-Nusra and the other quickly gave up its arms to the jihadist group.

The Administration also balked at any support for Turkey’s proposal of a 98-km (61-mile) safe zone along the border.

Instead, since last autumn, the US has been backing the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in their fight against the Islamic State, supplying weapons, ammunition, and special forces. The SDF has also clashed with rebels in northwest Syria.

Dunford said he is considering Turkey’s proposal and will make recommendations soon to Defense Secretary Ash Carter and the White House.

Opposition-Held Idlib Province To Begin Trade With Turkey

An official in opposition-held Idlib Province in northwest Syria says trade will soon begin with Turkey.

Suheil Musilmani, who heads the province’s legal office for registration, told Syria Direct that local traders will be able to export agricultural products that are not essential for “food security”, such as cumin and cilantro. At this point, there will be no movement of manufactured materials.

Idlib’s trade with Turkey was halted in 2012 amid the escalating fight between rebels and the Assad regime.

Schools in Aleppo Province Going Underground After Deadly Russian Airstrikes

Schools in opposition-controlled areas of Aleppo Province will be underground following deadly Russian airstrikes, including an attack on Monday that killed at least eight children.

The head of the Free Aleppo Directorate of Education, Muhammad Mustafa, said a policy from October will expanded to “move students to safe schools in underground basements”. Students have been told to leave immediately “without gathering” after finishing exams.

Eight children and one teacher were among at least 20 people killed in Anjara, 12 km (7 miles) west of Aleppo city, on Monday morning when an elementary and two secondary schools were struck.

An activist said “a formation of eight planes” hit the school. A resident said, “We took out four complete bodies, the rest were just body parts.”

Assad Hosts Iranian Interior Minister

President Assad hosted Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli in Damascus on Tuesday, with both sides hailing their “deeply-rooted strategic relations…mainly in relation to fighting terrorism that is a threat to the entire region and beyond”.

Assad expressed “the Syrian people’s appreciation” for Iran’s support to the Assad reigme, “achieving victories in their crucial war against Takfiri terrorism, which may, to a large extent, determine the features of a new world map”.

No details were given of the discussions.

ASSAD FAZLI

Russia Gives State Honor to Regime Commander Hassan

Russia has awarded a state decoration to Colonel Suheil “The Tiger” al-Hassan, a prominent regime commander.

Hassan was bestowed the Order of Friendship, an honor given to foreign nationals who have worked toward improving ties with Moscow.

The commander, known for his leadership of an elite unit in offensives in northwest and central Syria, received the medal during a ceremony at the Hmeimim airbase in Latakia Province, from where Russia has been carrying out bombing since September 30.

RUSSIA MEDAL HASSAN

Hassan’s “Tiger Forces” relived regime troops besieged in the Aleppo Central Prison in early 2014 and recaptured the Shaer gas field from ISIS later in the year. His reputation was sustained despite rebel advances in Idlib and Hama Provinces in spring 2015.

162 Civilians Killed by Russian Attacks Since Sunday

The Violations Documentation Center records 162 civilians killed by Russian airstrikes since Saturday, the highest death rate since Moscow began bombing on September 30.

Most of the deaths were in Ma’arat al-Num’an in Idlib Province in northwest Syria, where almost 100 people died over the weekend and another 25 were reportedly slain in attacks on Tuesday. There were also casualties elsewhere in Idlib, in Aleppo Province, in the Damascus suburbs, and in Islamic State areas in Deir ez-Zor Province.

See Syria Daily, Jan 10: Another Mass Killing by Russian Airstrikes

Aftermath of Tuesday’s attack on Ma’arat al-Num’an: