The situation in three besieged villages in Syria is “extremely dire”, the International Committee of the Red Cross has warned.Activists say civilians have died because of a lack of food and medicine in rebel-controlled Madaya, near Damascus, or have died trying to escape. Jim Muir reports.The United Nations says all parties to the conflict in Syria have used siege warfare, in breach of international human rights and humanitarian laws. International law prohibits the starvation of civilians as a tactic of war. The World Food Programme and the International Red Cross describe conditions in some areas as “extremely dire”. Here is what we know about the situation for trapped civilians after nearly five years of civil war.With great difficulty. Those civilians trapped inside areas under siege depend on black market supplies at inflated prices. The UN Human Rights Council’s Commission of Inquiry on Syria found in July 2015 that people, particularly the vulnerable, had died of malnutrition and lack of access to medicines and electricity. “Trapped without basic necessities and under constant fear of deadly snipers or bombardment, severe psychological trauma and desperation characterise the besieged communities,” the inquiry found. -