Attack on Syria aid convoy

Photo: The Canadian Press

Damage clearly seen after attack on aid convoy in Syria.

Aid groups said Sunday a convoy delivering aid to a besieged opposition area outside Syria's capital has come under attack, seriously wounding a driver of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and thwarting the first such mission to the area in eight months.

The 37-truck convoy, jointly organized by the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and the United Nations, was to deliver food and medicine to 11,000 people in the town of East Harasta.

An aid worker and a local council in east Harasta said the delivery had already been aborted before the convoy came under attack. The aid worker spoke on condition of anonymity because of regulations against speaking publicly to the media.

In a post on its Facebook page, the Local Council of Harasta said that after the convoy arrived at the town's entrance, government officials said the necessary tools to remove sand berms were not available. The local council said the convoy was forced to turn back before coming under fire from a sniper, which it blamed on government troops.

There was no immediate word from the government.

Some 600,000 Syrians live under siege in different areas, mostly trapped by government forces, according to the U.N.