Madaya: Call for hundreds of evacuations as locals starve

The UN said that four children were among between 15 and 20 people believed to have starved to death under sieges staged by militants in Syria.

It warned that conditions were sharply deteriorating for some 200,000 within besieged areas such as the town of Madaya.

UN officials added that they had unverified reports of deaths within the city of Deir Al-Zor, where civilians have been cut off by Islamic State fighters.

The western part of the city has been under siege since last March. There has been no electricity for more than 10 months and water is only available for three hours a week, the UN report said.

Emergency food aid has been delivered to some areas such as Madaya in recent days, but many more are still cut off by militants.

The World Health Organisation is seeking permission from the Syrian government to send mobile clinics and medical teams to the besieged Syrian town of Madaya, where hundreds of people are suffering the effects of starvation.

A WHO official in Damascus told Reuters that the agency has a list of 300-400 people who need "special medical care" inside the city.

A door-to-door assessment programme is urgently needed in Madaya, he said, to make sure the malnourished get immediate medical care and possible evacuation.

Hundreds of residents in the besieged Syrian town of Madaya should be evacuated immediately to allow for urgent medical treatment, United Nations diplomats have said.

Stephen O`Brien, under-secretary-general and emergency relief coordinator, said around 400 people had been identified as in need of urgent evacuation after aid finally arrived in the starvation-stricken village.

The UN also insisted that there was proof people were starving in the town, after Syria's ambassador to the UN claimed journalists had fabricated the reports.

Basha Ja'afari claimed humanitarian assistance had been sent to Madaya in mid-October, meaning there was "no shortage".

Some people were forced to eat street animals and grass as armed groups, including President Bashar al-Assad's forces, cut the town off for months.

After three months without food and electricity, and reports of people dying, lorries carrying essential supplies have been allowed into the besieged Syrian town of Madaya.

The town, and neighbouring Zabadani, have been cut off since October - and activists say President Bashar al-Assad's forces are surrounding at least 50 other communities.

Rebel fighters are also employing the tactic, prevential crucial supplies from reaching trapped populations.

ITV News Middle East correspondent Geraint Vincent reports:

Emergency aid supplies have been delivered to besieged civilians in the Syrian town of Madaya, a UN officials based in the capital of Damascus has confirmed.

The official said that he had witnessed starving children in the town, which has been cut off from the outside world by armed groups for months.

A UN spokesman said aid trucks were also en route to the Shiite villages of al Foua and Kefraya in the northwestern province of Idlib, two other areas where there is a desperate need for humanitarian assistance.

Yacoub El Hillo, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Syria who was in Madaya overseeing the operation, said he had also received reports, which could not be confirmed, that at least 40 people had died of starvation.

Read: First aid vehicles reach besieged Madaya to help residents

Aid volunteers were greeted by "crowds of hungry kids" as they began unloading much-needed humanitarian supplies in the besieged Syrian town of Madaya.

The United Nation's refugee agency said despite the cold and rain, there was "excitement" at the help being brought in.

It is "outrageous" and "illegal" that it took widespread media reports before the Syrian government regime allowed vital aid to enter the besieged down of Madaya, Justine Greening has said.

Responding to questions in the House of Commons, the International Development Secretary said the actions of Syria's president Bashar al-Assad amounted to a "breach of humanitarian law".

Up to 4.5 million people live in beseiged towns and hard-to-reach areas within the country, she said, as she revealed Assad's forces were deliberately preventing aid workers from accessing such areas.

When pressed on why the United Nations was not using its internationally-given power to enter for humanitarian purposes anyway, Ms Greening revealed 42 United Nations workers had already died in the Syrian conflict while delivering aid.

As well as protecting the workers, she said, it was essential to get the agreement of the ruling party to ensure the aid went to the right people - instead of ending up in the wrong hands.

The first aid convoy vehicles have now entered the beseiged town of Madaya, Syria, carrying vital supplies for residents, Agence France-Presse reports.

It comes after the United Nations warned up to 200,000 people face starvation in towns across the war-ravaged country.

Madaya has come under siege from forces belonging to the government regime and from Lebanon's Hezbollah movement, with residents cut off and unable to escape.

Images emerged from the town earlier this week, showing skeletal adults and children living with no food, no water and no electricity.

The first part of a Red Cross aid convoy has arrived in the besieged Syrian town of Madaya to deliver supplies to starving residents.

Thousands of people have been trapped in the rebel-held town during an ongoing siege by Syrian government forces.

Residents gathered in the street as the first vehicles sanctioned by the UN arrived in the town, which is situated near the Lebanese border.