UN resumes air drops to besieged Syrian city

The United Nations has restartedair drops of food to support 93,500 Syrians besieged by ISIS in the city of Deir al-Zor, the UNWorld Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday.

Air drops were halted on Jan. 15 after the militant groupcut the besieged zone in two and overran the drop zonethat had been used for 177 air drops since April.

WFP spokeswoman Bettina Luescher said a new drop zone wasnow in use and air drops resumed on Jan. 29, with two drops atthe new site so far. A total of 3,340 tonnes of food and otherhumanitarian aid have been dropped since last April.

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Humanitarian experts say air drops are a last resort becausethey are complicated and deliver a fraction of the volumecarried by a convoy of trucks.

Moreover, the air drops to Deir al-Zor are conducted at highaltitude because of the threat of attack from the ground. Afirst attempt last year failed, with all the pallets blown offcourse or smashing into the ground after the parachutes failed.

Despite the interruption to WFP air drops, Syrian governmenthelicopters managed to bring in some food and medicine, mainlyfor soldiers, as well as evacuating wounded troops, the UNhumanitarian office said in a report on Saturday.

A private Syrian company also airlifted 24 tonnes ofpotatoes and onions into the city for sale at comparativelyexpensive prices, the UNsaid.

The UNair drops cost an average of $10,000 US per tonne, atotal cost of $33 million so far.

Stocks almost depleted

WFP food stocks in the city are almost depleted, and RedCrescent volunteers on the ground have been trying to puttogether food rations from pallets that were damaged in earlierair drops, the UNhumanitarian report said.

This month's offensive by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria cut off two easternneighbourhoods containing 6,000 people, who now cannot accessthe hospital or get food or fuel. They drink untreated water,drawn from the river at night to avoid ISIS attacksfrom the opposite bank.

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The bakery in the east has also stopped working because of alack of flour and fuel, although Russian helicopters brought intwo days' worthof bread supplies two weeks ago, the UNsaid.

The heavy fighting with Syrian government troops left thebodies of 40 child soldiers on the battlefield, the UNsaid,citing unconfirmed reports from local sources.

Medical sources reported 19 civilian deaths from shellingbetween Jan. 15 and Jan. 23, the UNreport said.