News: In Syria, People Are Being Deliberately Starved

http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/15/middleeast/syria-madaya-starvation/ By Don Melvin, Nick Paton Walsh and Tim Hume, CNN. Fri January 15, 2016. The starvation in Syria is no act of God -- not the result of drought or flooding or crop failure. This famine is man-made. And it is drawing international condemnation. The use of starvation as a weapon in Syria is "a war crime," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Thursday. "U.N. teams have witnessed scenes that haunt the soul," Ban said. "The elderly and children, men and women, who were little more than skin and bones: gaunt, severely malnourished, so weak they could barely walk, and utterly desperate for the slightest morsel." He spoke after U.N. convoys had finally arrived in Syrian towns to deliver food to malnourished residents. "Let me be clear: The use of starvation as a weapon of war is a war crime," he said. "All sides -- including the Syrian government, which has the primary responsibility to protect Syrians -- are committing this and other atrocious acts prohibited under international humanitarian law." The civil war in Syria is nearing its five-year mark, with the brutal regime of President Bashar al-Assad pitted against rebels. The terrorist group ISIS has taken over large swaths of the country and neighboring Iraq. More than 250,000 Syrians -- mostly civilians -- have been killed, according to the United Nations. About 10.5 million Syrians have fled their homes -- and more than 4 million of those have left the country.