Red Cross and Red Crescent teams on Sunday, March 4 began distributing aid in a village near Homs and plan to move to other neighborhoods sheltering families who have fled the battered district of Baba Amro, the ICRC said on Sunday, Reuters reported.

"The ICRC and Syrian Arab Red Crescent started distributing assistance in the village of Abel 3 km from Homs city," International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) spokesman Hicham Hassan told Reuters in Geneva.

"The plan is to continue to the neighborhoods of al-Inshaat and al-Tawzii in Homs in order to assist (local) populations and families displaced from Baba Amro."

"It is a positive step. But we want to enter Baba Amro today," he added.

Assistance included food, blankets and hygiene kits, he said. Red Crescent volunteers were also providing first aid care.