Local Editor

The United Nations [UN] restarted air drops of food to support 93,500 Daesh [Arabic acronym for "ISIS" / "ISIL"]-besieged Syrians in the city of Deir al-Zor, the UN World Food Program [WFP] said on Tuesday.

Air drops were halted on Jan. 15 after the Takfiri Daesh militants cut the besieged zone in two and overran the drop zone that had been used for 177 air drops since April.

WFP spokeswoman Bettina Luescher said a new drop zone was now in use and air drops resumed on Jan. 29, with two drops at the new site so far. A total of 3,340 tons of food and other humanitarian aid had been dropped since last April.

According to humanitarian experts, air drops are a last resort because they are complicated and deliver a fraction of the volume carried by a convoy of trucks.

Moreover, the air drops to Deir al-Zor are conducted at high altitude because of the threat of attack from the ground. A first attempt last year failed, with all the pallets blown off course or smashing into the ground after the parachutes failed.

Despite the interruption to WFP air drops, Syrian Army helicopters managed to bring in some food and medicine, mainly for soldiers, as well as evacuating wounded troops, the UN humanitarian office said in a report on Saturday.

The UN further added that a private Syrian company also airlifted 24 tons of potatoes and onions into the city for sale at comparatively expensive prices.

The UN air drops cost an average of $10,000 per ton, a total cost of $33 million so far.

WFP food stocks in the city are almost depleted, and Red Crescent volunteers on the ground had been trying to put together food rations from pallets that were damaged in earlier air drops, the UN humanitarian report said.

This month's Daesh offensive cut off two eastern neighborhoods containing 6,000 people, who now cannot access the hospital or get food or fuel. They drink untreated water, drawn from the river at night to avoid Daesh attacks from the opposite bank.

The bakery in the east had also stopped working because of a lack of flour and fuel, although Russian helicopters brought in two days of bread supplies two weeks ago, the UN said.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team