Aid delivered to two besieged areas in Syria

Spokesman Jens Laerke of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Tuesday that deliveries were "underway" to help some 20,000 people in Moadamiyeh and another 10,000 people in Kfar Batna.

Fifteen trucks loaded with aid entered Kfar Batna and 55 entered Moadamiyeh.

Local media activist Rami al-Gotani said that the regime pushed for supplies to be delivered through the regime held town of Meliha, but this was rejected by the local council of Kfar Batna.

Similarly, after previously criticising the Red Crescent and the UN for delivering aid through regime supporting areas in the eastern neighbourhood of Moadamiyeh, local activists said that this time the aid arrived into opposition held area of the city.

Laerke said by phone Tuesday that the deliveries follow on similar convoys last week to five other besieged towns.

"These are the first of what we hope will be a series of deliveries to people who have not been reached for a long time," he said.

The deliveries came a day after the US and Russia agreed on a planned Syrian cease-fire to begin Saturday.

The Syrian government and the main Syrian opposition group have conditionally agreed to the truce, although many have expressed skepticism that it will take place.