After a year, regime allows aid convoy to north Homs

A convoy of 13 Red Crescent trucks carrying food and medical supplies entered the town of a-Dar al-Kabeer in the blockaded countryside of north Homs on Monday, reported the organization on the Facebook page of the local Homs branch.

The arrival of the convoy, which contained wheelchairs, canned food, and school bags among other things, marks the first time in a year that the town has received humanitarian aid. The regime allowed the aid through, and the blockade remains in place.

The Red Crescent said the aid would reach 2,200 families. It’s not enough, Yaarb al-Dali, a locally based correspondent for Syria Mubasher told Syria Direct on Tuesday. “The aid won’t suffice for more than two days,” he said.

Why now? A-Dali cites the awareness campaign of grassroots and media organizations.

“I think that the aid came because of our focus in the media on the fact the Red Crescent and the Red Cross aid has been delivered monthly only to pro-regime areas in Homs,” he said.

“The regime has been stopping and holding aid convoys for months in order to send them into its own areas, saying that these areas are afflicted.”

Although the regime and rebels who control the area reached a truce earlier this year, the regime blockade has remained firmly in place.

-Photo courtesy of SARC Homs branch