Syria conflict: Largest aid convoy reaches besieged Rastan

The largest aid convoy so far in Syria has reached a besieged rebel-held town in the centre of the country.

Sixty-five lorries are delivering food and medicine to about 120,000 civilians in and around Rastan, in Homs province.

The International Committee of the Red Cross and Syrian Red Crescent convoy is the first to reach Rastan since 2012.

A key aim of the fragile cessation of hostilities that has been in place for nearly two months was to allow aid to be delivered more widely across Syria.

On Wednesday, hundreds of sick and wounded people were evacuated from four besieged rebel- and government-held towns as part of a deal overseen by the Syrian Red Crescent.

However, such aid operations have been jeopardised by escalating fighting in the country's north-west, particularly around the divided city of Aleppo.

Fear of return to 'total conflict'

ICRC spokesman Pawel Krzysiek said the convoy to Rastan was carrying food parcels, wheat flour and other nutritional items, as well as medicines and equipment to improve the water supply.

"We are hoping that this is one of many humanitarian convoys still to come, not only to Rastan but to other besieged places in Syria," he said in a video posted on Twitter as the convoy arrived.

Mr Krzysiek said ICRC and Red Crescent teams planned to assess the water and waste infrastructure in Rastan, as well as the nutritional and other needs of its population, which has doubled because of an influx of people fleeing fighting.

As the convoy arrived, UN special envoy Staffan de Mistura told reporters in Geneva that there had been "modest but real progress" on the delivery of humanitarian aid to the almost 500,000 people living in besieged areas, but "not enough for us to feel comfortable at all".

Map of besieged towns

Rastan, about 20km (12 miles) north of the city of Homs, has reportedly been the target of government air strikes in recent days, as the cessation of hostilities brokered by the US and Russia appeared on the verge of collapse.

The main opposition umbrella group on Tuesday suspended its participation in UN-led peace talks in Geneva in protest at what it said were repeated government violations of the truce, which took effect on 27 February.

Over the past two weeks, the government has accused rebel groups of taking part in assaults around Aleppo carried out by jihadist groups excluded from the cessation of hostilities, while the rebels say they are defending themselves from attacks.

Russia, which launched an air campaign to bolster its ally President Bashar al-Assad in September, warned on Thursday that the opposition's decision to pull out of the Geneva talks could lead to "a return of total armed conflict".

"We have a situation where terrorists are desperately trying to disrupt the political process,'' Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

The US, which backs the opposition to Mr Assad, meanwhile expressed concern about reports that Russia was moving military personnel and equipment back into Syria, five weeks after announcing that most of its forces would be withdrawn.

"We believe that our efforts are best focused on supporting the diplomatic process," US Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters in Riyadh.

He urged Russia to use its influence to ensure the government abided by the truce.

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