PHOTO: Women and children protest in Darayya, besieged since autumn 2012, on Wednesday

THURSDAY FEATURE

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The residents of Darayya, southwest of Syria’s capital Damascus, have again demanded access to aid.

The opposition-held town has been besieged since autumn 2012 by the Syrian military, who also killed about 200 civilians that summer. Regime warplanes have regularly bombarded Darayya, and the Syrian military renewed attempts this winter to break into the town center.

Despite a February 27 “cessation of hostilities”, the Assad regime — which refused all but 13 of 103 UN requests for access last year — has stalled on allowing assistance into areas such as Darayya.

Jan Egeland, a special advisor to UN envoy Staffan de Mistura, said yesterday, “We still have not reached six important besieged areas, including Daraya and Douma,” another Damascus suburb.

Women and children gathered on Wednesday, holding up banners such as “Save the Children of Darayya” and singing, “I am human, I want to live. I don’t want to die”.

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