DAMASCUS (Dispatches) – A total of 13 truckloads of aid started entering the terrorist-held Douma district in the capital Damascus' Eastern Ghouta countryside Friday, Red Cross spokesperson told Xinhua.
The 13 truckloads are part of the 46 trucks that entered Douma a few days before but couldn't be unloaded at the time due to the situation on ground, Inji Sedky, the spokesperson of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said.
Activists said the 13 truckloads had to leave Douma due to government shelling, while the government says the rebels shelling hindered the full offload of the remaining trucks before they prepared again to enter Douma on Friday.
The convoy was supposed to deliver its relief supplies on Monday, but it could not enter the area due to heavy fighting.
The ICRC is preparing additional supplies, including medical material, to be sent in a bigger convoy next week.
Bilal Abu Salah, a resident of Douma said, "The situation is relatively good today,” but added that shortages are still acute, causing great hardship. "Entire families eat one meal in several days,” he said.
Eastern Ghouta, a besieged area on the outskirts of Damascus with a population of some 400,000 people, has witnessed deadly violence over the past few weeks, with Takfiri terrorists launching mortar attacks on the Syrian capital in the face of an imminent humiliating defeat.
Last week, army troops secured a safe corridor set up for the evacuation of civilians via the al-Wafideen checkpoint, through which a UN aid convoy, consisting 46 truckloads of health, food and nutrition supplies, crossed into Eastern Ghouta and headed for the main town of Douma.
Russia, which is helping Damascus curb foreign-backed militancy in the Arab country, has designated four safe routes in Eastern Ghouta after a ceasefire was declared across Syria by the UN Security Council.
That ceasefire does not apply to the fight against terrorists and their affiliates.
The Syrian army is making steady advances in the enclave, but it is facing a hostile West, which is threatening airstrikes to stop the push. President Bashar al-Assad vowed last week that Syrian forces would continue the campaign until the whole area is retaken.
German politicians in Syria
Separately, a group of seven politicians from the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has visited Syria to examine the situation on the ground for themselves, saying mainstream media do not provide an accurate coverage of what is really happening in the Arab country.
"We have set out to Syria in order to receive information about the humanitarian situation in the country on-site. We do not rely exclusively on media coverage, which paints a horrifying picture of the developments, we want to find out what the living conditions are,” Christian Blex, an AfD parliamentarian from the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) told Sputnik.
The delegation entered Syria from Lebanon on March 5, with its first destination being the country’s capital, Damascus, where they met with religious figures.