Syrian town receives much-needed aid for the first time in 4 years

For the first time since 2012, an aid convoy entered the devastated Damascus suburb of Daraya, bringing with it vital medicine and baby milk.

The effort was coordinated by the International Committee of the Red Cross, the United Nations, and the Red Crescent. Last month, the convoy was turned away by government forces at the final checkpoint to Daraya, despite having official clearance. A 48-hour ceasefire for Daraya started Wednesday, the BBC reports, and another convoy was able to deliver aid to the rebel-held town of Moadamiyeh, which also received aid in May.

The UN estimates that between 4,000 to 8,000 people currently live in Daraya. Life there has been brutal since residents, early on in the uprising, kicked out President Bashar al-Assad's security forces, NPR reports. Daraya has been subject to a government blockade, electricity was cut off three years ago, and activists say regime forces shelled crop fields hours before the ceasefire began.

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