Aid Convoy Reaches Daraya, Without Food

The first humanitarian aid convoy since 2012 reached the besieged Damascus suburb of Daraya on Wednesday, carrying medical supplies and baby formula – but no food.

The convoy, which was arranged by both the U.N. and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, brought in basic medical supplies, including mosquito nets and vaccines.

“Sources are telling me that the Syrian government did not allow all medical items – they certainly didn’t allow surgical kits into Daraya,” said Al Jazeera’s diplomatic editor James Bays.

Videos shared by the Local Council of Daraya City on Facebook showing residents inspecting the first aid truck and discovering the absence of food have sparked outrage across social media platforms.

Daraya was one of two besieged communities – out of a total of 19 across the country – where aid was delivered on Wednesday. Another convoy, containing only food and no medicine, reached the neighboring town of Moadamiyeh.

Assad’s Media Advisor to Speak at U.S. Conference

Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s media adviser, Bouthaina Shaaban, is set to speak via Skype on Thursday at a Washington news conference hosted by the “Global Alliance for Terminating ISIS,” despite being blacklisted by U.S. sanctions.

While Americans are usually banned from working with anyone on the sanctions list, the U.S. treasury department has not yet said whether the conference’s facilitation of Shaaban’s appearance via remote video was permissible, the Associated Press reports.

State department spokesman John Kirby on Wednesday called Shaaban a “propaganda mouthpiece for the Assad regime.”

Shaaban’s career with the Assad family began with her post as an interpreter for former President Hafez al-Assad. Her name is on the list along with other Syrian officials who have been sanctioned by the U.S. since the Syrian government’s 2011 crackdown against anti-government protesters.

Opposition Demands Clarity on SDF Objectives

The High Negotiations Committee (HNC) demanded clarification on the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) attacks on rebel forces and the SDF’s relationship with the Syrian government.

Bassma Kodmani, an opposition negotiator in Geneva, told reporters on Wednesday that her group wanted Kurdish forces to clarify their objectives.

She said the concerns raised by the HNC, the opposition’s central representative body at the Geneva peace talks, include “how [the SDF] are viewed by the local population, what they stand for politically, and also because they have so far attacked some of the Free Syrian Army groups and the areas under their control.”

The SDF’s main military wing is the Kurdish YPG militia, a group Turkey sees as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a terrorist group outlawed by Washington and Ankara.

Last week, the SDF launched an attack on ISIS strongholds north of Raqqa, with an aim of eventually capturing the group’s de facto capital.

Recommended Reads

• Voice of America: Civilians Press for More Control in Syria’s Rebel Areas
• The Washington Post: Aid Delivered in Syria May Be Too Little, Too Late
• BBC News: Can Russia and Turkey Heal Rift?
• The Daily Beast: Big Win Over ISIS Could Mean a New War
• CNN: Meet the Man Saving Yazidi Slaves from ISIS