(Zaman Al Wasl)- Syrian regime extended its aerial and ground campaign
on Daraya town near the capital as clashes took place in the western and
southern neighborhoods, activists said Thursday.
The ongoing offensive on the besieged town of Daraya seeks to end rebel presence west of Damascus, such an aim seems hard to come true despite fierce shelling and heavy artillery.
Local activists said on Thursday regime army had fired 3 surface-to-surface missiles and tens of mortars on the western and southern districts of Daraya leaving casualties.
The nearby town of Moadamiya was also under heavy bombardment.
On Tuesday, Hassan al-Masri, prominent media activist, was killed in regime the aerial bombing on Daraya.
Since the Syrian revolution erupted in March 2011, al-Masri who also known as al-Dairani, was one of the most active citizen journalists who covered fighting, siege and suffering of the town.
-Blockade continues-
U.N. officials said on Tuesday the United Nations is still waiting for Syrian government agreement for an aid convoy to enter the besieged town of Daraya, according to Reuters.
"The blockage of aid is a political issue," U.N. spokesman Ahmad Fawzi told a regular U.N. briefing in Geneva. "Daraya is 12 km (7.5 miles) from Damascus, so it can be done but we need the political go-ahead from the government."
Last week Syria's government, under pressure from its ally Russia and other countries belonging to the International Syria Support Group overseeing the peace process, allowed the first U.N. aid convoy into Daraya since late 2012.
It brought baby milk and medical supplies to support an estimated 4,000 civilians, just in time for Syria to meet a Thursday deadline to improve aid access or face having aid deliveries imposed by air drops.
But the convoy took no food to Daraya, where the U.N. has said malnourished children will die without outside help. U.N. officials had hoped food would arrive in a second convoy on Friday, but that was delayed with no government approval.
The ongoing offensive on the besieged town of Daraya seeks to end rebel presence west of Damascus, such an aim seems hard to come true despite fierce shelling and heavy artillery.
Local activists said on Thursday regime army had fired 3 surface-to-surface missiles and tens of mortars on the western and southern districts of Daraya leaving casualties.
The nearby town of Moadamiya was also under heavy bombardment.
On Tuesday, Hassan al-Masri, prominent media activist, was killed in regime the aerial bombing on Daraya.
Since the Syrian revolution erupted in March 2011, al-Masri who also known as al-Dairani, was one of the most active citizen journalists who covered fighting, siege and suffering of the town.
-Blockade continues-
U.N. officials said on Tuesday the United Nations is still waiting for Syrian government agreement for an aid convoy to enter the besieged town of Daraya, according to Reuters.
"The blockage of aid is a political issue," U.N. spokesman Ahmad Fawzi told a regular U.N. briefing in Geneva. "Daraya is 12 km (7.5 miles) from Damascus, so it can be done but we need the political go-ahead from the government."
Last week Syria's government, under pressure from its ally Russia and other countries belonging to the International Syria Support Group overseeing the peace process, allowed the first U.N. aid convoy into Daraya since late 2012.
It brought baby milk and medical supplies to support an estimated 4,000 civilians, just in time for Syria to meet a Thursday deadline to improve aid access or face having aid deliveries imposed by air drops.
But the convoy took no food to Daraya, where the U.N. has said malnourished children will die without outside help. U.N. officials had hoped food would arrive in a second convoy on Friday, but that was delayed with no government approval.
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