GENEVA — The Syrian government allowed aid into a rebel-held area near Damascus on Tuesday in what appeared to be a goodwill gesture after U.N.-mediated indirect peace talks got off to a rocky start in Geneva.

The Syrian Arab Red Crescent delivered 14 trucks of aid provided by the International Committee of the Red Cross to the al-Tal suburb, said Damascus-based ICRC spokesman Pawel Krzysiek.

He told The Associated Press the delivery included food and hygiene kits for some 3,500 families as well as 25 metric tons of bulk food.

The Syrian opposition had demanded that aid be allowed into 18 besieged areas throughout the country and that Syrian and Russian forces halt the bombardment of rebel-held areas ahead of the talks, which officially began Monday.

But as U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura has shuttled between the government and opposition delegations in Geneva, Syrian troops backed by Russian airstrikes have captured three villages north of the city of Aleppo. The military offensive and the continuing blockade of rebel areas has infuriated the opposition and thrown the future of the talks into question.