New York Times: Starving Syrians in Madaya Are Denied Aid Amid Political Jockeying
BEIRUT, Lebanon — In the hills near the Lebanese border, an hour’s drive from downtown Damascus, much of a Syrian town is starving, according to residents and international humanitarian workers.
The town, Madaya, is controlled by rebels and encircled by pro-government forces with barbed wire, land mines and snipers. The people in the town make soups of grass, spices and olive leaves. They eat donkeys and cats. They arrive, collapsing, at a clinic that offers little but rehydration salts. Neighbors fail to recognize neighbors in the streets because their faces are so sunken.
Syria, once classified as a middle-income country, now reports periodic malnutrition deaths. At least 28 people, including six babies, have died from hunger-related causes at a clinic in Madaya aided by Doctors Without Borders, medics there say. And the 42,000 people that the United Nations counts as trapped in Madaya are about a tenth of those stranded in besieged or hard-to-reach areas as conditions grow steadily worse.
WNU Editor: There is no mercy from the Syrian government's side .... There goes our dinner… Sick Assad supporters troll starving Madaya residents on Twitter (Al Bawaba). More here .... Madaya: Syrian regime supporters share food photos to taunt starving civilians trapped in town (The Independent).
More News On The Growing Threat of Famine In The Besieged Syrian Town Of Madaya
Madaya: Death toll climbs to 28 as hundreds starve in war-torn Syrian town -- ABC News Australia
More deaths in Madaya as starving citizens wait for aid packages -- The Telegraph
Madaya: Aid convoy for besieged Syrian town delayed -- BBC
Madaya: Huge aid convoy set to leave for starvation-stricken Syrian town -- ITV News
Starvation Deaths Reported in Besieged Syrian City as UN Prepares to Send Aid -- VICE News
