Abdullah Diarbakerli

ستة أشهر من الحصار يفرضه النظام السوري و حزب الله على بلدة مضايا الحدودية بناء على معادلة “الجوع أو الركوع”.

أكثر من 30 حالة وفاة بسبب الجوع في مضايا، غالبيتها في شهر كانون الأول وبينهم أطفال ونساء، في منطقة يبلغ عدد سكانها المحاصرين أكثر من 40 ألف نسمة

“Residents of a Syrian town a few dozen miles from the capital, Damascus, say they are dying of starvation as a result of a months-long siege by forces loyal to the government of Bashar al-Assad.

Families are eating leaves, grasses and water flavoured with spices in the town of Madaya, where rice is sold by the gram because a kilogram costs as much as $250 (£170). Some have killed and eaten their pets.

“People are dying in slow motion,” said Louay, a social worker from the town told the Guardian in a phone interview, his voice weakened by months of abject hunger. “We had some flowers growing in pots at home. Yesterday, we picked the petals and ate them, but they were bitter, awful.”

He sent pictures of emaciated bodies of several elderly men, recent casualties of the starvation. He had not taken the pictures himself, but said the men were well known in the town.

“We used to say nobody could ever die from hunger, but we have seen people actually die of hunger.”