Only 10 days of food in Aleppo
The United Nations have issued a plea for civilians to be saved as humanitarian organisations warn only 10 days of food supplies remain in the war-ravaged Syrian city of Aleppo.
Hundreds of thousands remain trapped in enclaves of Aleppo – 90,000 of them estimated to be children.
Humanitarian groups have warned residents are facing starvation as the battle for the city rages.
The Assad regime’s troops are advancing across the city after a rebel attempt to end the siege ended in failure last month.
Jan Egeland, the UN special adviser on Syria, has said he is waiting for a response from the Assad regime to a proposal for the delivery of relief supplies which has been backed verbally by Russia.
He said: “The trucks are ready. Courageous humanitarian workers will be able to go with hundreds of truck-loads of medical equipment, food and other things needed in eastern Alepo.
“It needs to happen in the next few days because the last UN food has been distributed, there is no food left in the World Food Programme and there is no medical facility that has not been hit.”
Mr Egeland added: “What is my plan B? In many ways my plan B is that people starve.”
A worker for the Syria Relief charity has said starvation is “looming” with a family only having half a loaf of flat bread a day to survive on.
Only three surgeons remain in the city, among a couple of dozen doctors all together and medics say they are down to their last supplies.