Food aid reaches besieged city of Darayya, Syria

The latest delivery to Darayya was made by a teams from the Syrian Red Crescent and the United Nations humanitarian body.An aid delivery that reached Darayya earlier carried only a small amount of medicines and other non-food items.

Operations director of the Syrian Red Crescent Tamam Mehrez told Agence France-Presse the goods would be enough for residents for one month.

"There aren't many residents waiting for the convoy because they don't believe in promises anymore," one rebel in Darayya, Shadi Matar, told AFP.

"And because of the bombings on the town, people are afraid to go out and gather in groups."

In April, the UN said at least 4,000 people were besieged in Darayya by Syrian government forces.

The UN's special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said on Thursday that the Syrian government had given permission for aid to be delivered to 19 areas designated as besieged by the UN, where an estimated 600,000 people live.

The US, UK and France have called for air drops of aid, given the previous reluctance of Damascus to allow relief into rebel-held areas.

de Mistura said he believed the pressure on the Syrian government over the prospect of air drops led it to allow aid into besieged areas.

Elsewhere in Syria, US-backed forces drew closer to a Daesh stronghold in the north of the country on Thursday.

Manbij, a key town on the supply line between Turkey and the de facto Daesh capital Raqqa, is now effectively encircled, news agencies said.

However, Daesh fighters are seemingly not withdrawing from the town.