UN declares east Aleppo ‘besieged’

Children who fled from Islamic State-controlled areas ride a pick-up truck to the northern Syrian rebel-held town of al-Rai, in Aleppo Governorate, Syria, in this October 3, 2016 photo. (Reuters)

DEVASTATED: A man reacts as he sits on the rubble of destroyed buildings following a regime airstrike on the rebel-controlled neighborhood of Bustan Al-Basha in the northern city of Aleppo. (AFP)

GENEVA: The rebel-controlled east of Syria’s Aleppo has officially been declared a “besieged area,” following a months-long government offensive and a lack of access for aid workers, the UN said Wednesday.
Half of the estimated 275,000 Syrians besieged in eastern Aleppo want to leave, the UN said as food supplies are running thin and people are driven to burning plastic for fuel.
Food prices are rising and supplies are running out. Mothers were reportedly tying ropes around their stomachs or drinking large amounts of water to reduce the feeling of hunger and prioritize food for their children, the UN said.
“An assessment conducted in eastern Aleppo city concluded that 50 percent of the inhabitants expressed willingness to leave if they can,” the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in an update on the Aleppo situation.
United Nations humanitarian agency (OCHA) spokesman Jens Laerke said eastern Aleppo now met all three criteria used to define an area as besieged. That includes military encirclement, lack of humanitarian access and the lack of free movement for civilians.
The UN estimates that there are 275,000 people in eastern Aleppo under siege, Laerke said. The west of the city is controlled by the government and has continued to receive relief supplies.
Once Syria’s economic powerhouse, Aleppo has been devastated by the country’s brutal five-year civil war, with the suffering intensifying since regime troops cut off the last supply route in July.