'God help us': Babies dying as humanitarian aid unable to reach starving populations (WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES)

'Children, women and elderly are dying as a result of hunger and cold.'

Residents of three besieged cities are forced to eat cats, dogs and even grass to survive.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Three Syrian cities have been surrounded by Assad's troops, essentially cutting off the populations from humanitarian aid, escape and food.

Foua, Kfarya and Madaya's people are dying from the lack of food, and when they attempt to scavenge Assad's snipers pick them off one by one.

Those who have not died from starvation and sniper attacks are at risk of being blown to shreds by mines while scavenging, which has become a necessity as food prices have soared to extreme prices.

A local official who identified himself as Samir Ali told the Associated Press, via Skype, that 2.2 pounds of crushed wheat has been selling for roughly $250 and 31 ounces of powdered baby milk costs about $300.

Pro-government fighters who were recently evacuated from Foua and Kfarya described the conditions in the cities as being so terrible some have been forced to eat grass to survive while others undergo emergency surgeries without anesthesia.

Sixteen-year-old fighter Hussein Mahdi Kazem added, "Our life was catastrophic in Foua and Kfarya.

The nearly five-year-old civil war has resulted in several towns and villages coming under attack. In retaliation, opposition activists claim Syrian troops and members of Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group have hit the Sunni area of Syria hard.

An early snowstorm resulted in the lack of diesel fuel and electricity, leaving citizens to burn bedroom and bathroom doors for heat, Ali described.

An activist who has family in Madaya told BBC, "Citizens are dying. They're eating stuff off the ground. They're eating cats and dogs."

Sadly, 23 deaths have been reported recently in Madaya, with 10 attributed to the lack of food. The remaining thirteen died when they were either shot down or blown up by mines planted by pro-government forces.

It is unknown how many deaths have occurred in Foua and Kfarya.

Evacuated fighters from the cities described people hope expired drugs can help when they need medicine and mothers are forced to crush grains of rice - when they can get it - to boil and mix to form baby food.

Pawl Krzysiek, spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), said the suffering in Foua, Kfarya and Madaya "is extremely dire and winter is making things even more difficult for them."

He reported ICRC is coordinating aid to the villages but has refused further detail. He did add, "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."

Mohsen Darwish, a Shi'ite cleric from Kfarya living in Lebanon said, "Life is miserable. People cannot find a pill of aspirin or painkillers. Their dream is to eat vegetables."

In December, a UN-backed deal helped evacuate over 450 people from two war zones in Syria, but Madaya, which is near the location of the evacuations, was not included. Food was supposed to go into the city, but the UN announced it mistakenly sent hundreds of boxes of expired nutrition biscuits to Zabadani and Madaya.

Ali, Madaya's local official, said people ate the biscuits anyway, leading to several falling ill. The city was promised more supplies but nothing has been delivered yet.

---

The California Network is the Next Wave in delivery of information and entertainment on pop culture, social trends, lifestyle, entertainment, news, politics and economics. We are hyper-focused on one audience, YOU, the connected generation. JOIN US AS WE REDEFINE AND REVOLUTIONIZE THE EVER-CHANGING MEDIA LANDSCAPE.