Food aid has been delivered to Daraya for the first time since the suburb of Damascus came under siege in 2012, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) said.

The food delivery was co-ordinated with the United Nations in the Syrian capital and occurred shortly before midnight, the SARC said.

Medical supplies were delivered as well as food, the SARC said.

The delivery came a week after the government allowed medical supplies into the suburb for the first time in nearly four years.

The UN estimates that 4,000 to 8,000 people live in Daraya, which has been subject to a crippling government blockade since residents expelled security forces in the early stages of the 2011 uprising against president Bashar Assad.

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