Regime forces began removing some of the sand berms surrounding the city of Moadamiyat al-Sham in the western countryside of Damascus on Sunday, May 29, in an initial step to reopen the roads for the entrance of food supplies and the exit of civilians.
Mahmoud Abou Qais, spokesperson for the Fath al-Mubin brigade, told Enab Baladi that regime forces have been allowing the exit of employees and the entrance of bread into the city since May 22. He pointed out that the local council of the city is buying this bread for distribution to the city’s residents.
Abou Qais said that "the roads outside the city will be reopened, and we are working on gradually activating the service institutions including the water unit, the clinic and the town hall."
On Saturday, May 28, regime forces allowed the entry of the first vegetable convoy into Moadamiyat al-Sham, which has been under siege for five months. According to Abou Qais, the committee, which is comprised of activists from the city, purchased the convoy after receiving five million Syrian pounds from the regime. He added that each family would receive six kilograms of vegetables.
Abou Qais explained: "According to the agreement between the regime and the city’s civil and military activists, the Fourth Armored Division paid for this convoy."
About 45,000 civilians live inside the city, while a truce between the locals and the Assad regime has been underway since the beginning of 2014. The regime has violated the truce several times, including at the beginning of the year when its forces completely cut all roads leading from Moadamiyat al-Sham to neighboring Daraya.
The regime also prevented the entry of all kinds of aid while stopping the exit or the entry of any civilian for the past five months.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
