People Under Siege In Syria Are Forced To Eat Cats,Dogs And Grass Because Of Shortage in Food Supply

Starving to death: A photo posted on the Local Revolutionary Council in Madaya is reported to show a starving boy in Madaya. Pawl Krzysiek, a Syria-based spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross, said the situation in the villages of Foua, Kfarya and Madaya is 'extremely dire and winter is making things even more difficult'                     

An emaciated man is seen in this undated picture taken from social media, reportedly in the Syrian town of Madaya, which has been under siege by forces loyal to President Bashar Al Assad since July. Residents are reportedly being forced to eat cats and dogs to survive after vital food and medical supplies were cut off



Starving Syrians trapped in three besieged towns are being forced to eat cats and dogs and have surgery without anesthetic after vital supplies were cut off, activists have warned.Foua and Kfarya in Idlib province have been under attack from rebel groups for more than a year.But the situation deteriorated in September when insurgents captured an airbase used by helicopters that delivered canned food, vegetables and bread to about 30,000 people.In the Madaya near Damascus, which has been under siege by President Bashar Al Assad's forces since July, desperate residents have resorted to eating domestic animals to fend of starvation.Several have either been shot dead by snipers or blown up by mines while scavenging for food, while the conflict had sent the price of powdered baby milk soaring to $300 for 900g. 
Pro-government fighters recently evacuated from two besieged villages Foua and Kfarya described harsh conditions there with scarce food and medicine, saying some residents are eating grass to survive and undergoing surgery without anesthesia.

'Our life was catastrophic in Foua and Kfarya,' said Hussein Mahdi Kazem, a 16-year-old wounded fighter. 

He spoke from a bed in Hezbollah's Rasoul al-Azam Hospital south of Beirut, where he was evacuated last month from Kfarya.

But the two Shi'ite villages are not alone in their suffering. Both sides in Syria's nearly five-year-old conflict have used siege tactics on towns or villages as a way of getting an area under control.

In retaliation for the siege of the Shi'ite villages, opposition activists say Syrian troops and members of Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group have taken harsh measures against a Sunni area of Syria of about 40,000 people near the Lebanese border.

The mountain border town of Madaya has been besieged since early July and conditions have worsened with colder weather and dwindling supplies.  

A snowstorm hit early in the new year and there has been no electricity or diesel fuel. 

People have taken to removing interior doors in their homes and burning them for heat, said a local official who identified himself as Samir Ali.He told the Associated Press news agency via Skype that the cost of goods has soared, with a kilogram (2.2lbs) of crushed wheat selling for about $250 and 900 grams (31oz) of powdered milk for infants going for about $300. 

A group of people recently killed a dog and ate it, he said.

One activist whose family is inside Madaya also told the BBC: 'Citizens are dying. They're eating stuff off the ground. They're eating cats and dogs.' 

Of 23 deaths in Madaya in recent weeks, 10 were attributed to a lack of food and the rest were either shot dead or blown up by mines planted by pro-government and Hezbollah forces, said Rami Abdurrahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based group.

At least 25 checkpoints prevent people from leaving, Ali said.

A Facebook page describing conditions in Madaya posted photos of several older men who it said had starved to death. The photos could not be independently confirmed.

It's not known how many people died in Foua and Kfarya. The evacuated fighters described how people who need medication in the two villages often must take drugs that have expired and that mothers must crush grains of rice – when available – and boil the mixture to make baby food.

Pawl Krzysiek, a Syria-based spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), said the situation in the villages of Foua, Kfarya and Madaya 'is extremely dire and winter is making things even more difficult for them.' 

He added: 'For far too long, people were left without basic necessities such as food and medicine. It is the ICRC's utmost priority to deliver in the coming days to people there.'

He said ICRC is coordinating the aid to the villages but refused to give further details.

The main Western-backed Syrian opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition, called on the UN and the international community to allow aid into Madaya, warning that any delay 'will lead to more deaths among innocent civilians.' 

Coalition member Salah Hamawi said: 'Children, women and elderly are dying as a result of hunger and cold.'

But UN efforts to take in food often get disrupted by either insurgents or pro-government fighters, the Observatory said.