A U.N. convoy carrying food for the people of the old Syrian city of
Homs is waiting to be allowed passage, as residents plead for the government to
end a siege that's been starving them for nearly 600 days.
"Our trucks are loaded and
ready to go in as soon as all sides allow it," said Dina Elkassaby with
the U.N. World Food Program.
Those left behind in Homs have
little food and haven't seen bread in months. They also live under the constant
threat of shelling, CNN reported.
"The aid is just outside. It needs to come in. We need food and water because we have small children," a mother tells an opposition activist in an interview obtained by CNN. She sits in her simple living room with her child and husband by her side.
Diplomats at the Geneva 2 peace
negotiations in the Swiss city reached a yet-to-be-executed deal to evacuate
some women and children, United Nations mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said.
But for this Homs family, leaving is
not an option.
"If my wife leaves and my baby
leaves, am I expected to stay here? What will I do if I stay here? The
government already thinks we are terrorists. That won't work," the husband
said in the interview.
The United Nations estimates that it
will need to feed about 2,500 people if the convoy gets permission to enter
Homs.
"WFP has prepared 500 family
rations right now. Each ration has enough for five people," Elkassaby
said.
The United States blamed the Syrian
government for the dire situation, accusing it of waging a "kneel or
starve campaign."
"The regime is blocking all
convoys of aid to Homs, and has been doing so for months. The situation is
extremely urgent. Anything the regime says to the contrary is wrong," a
senior U.S. official at the talks told CNN.
On Wednesday, the Syrian peace talks
achieved nothing "substantive," Brahimi said in Geneva, but he
remains hopeful the two sides will resume negotiations that will be more
productive.
Elsewhere in Syria, government
planes pounded Daraya, south of Damascus, dropping 20 barrel bombs, according
to opposition groups.
At least 114 people were killed
Wednesday across Syria, including 21 children, said the Local Coordination
Committees of Syria, a network of opposition activists.
According to the United Nations,
more than 100,000 people have been killed in the country since 2011. CNN
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