
The World Food Programme said on Sunday it had carried out its first ever successful high-altitude airdrop, to deliver 20 tonnes of food aid to the besieged Syrian city of Deir Ezzor.
A previous attempt to drop aid to the city where 200,000 people have been living under siege by the Islamic State (IS) group since March 2014 failed in February, WFP said in a statement.
The successful airdrop was the first time WFP has managed to get aid to the city, around 120 kilometres (70 miles) southeast of the jihadist movement's de facto capital Raqa, since the start of the siege over two years ago.
The supplies -- enough beans, chickpeas and rice to feed 2,500 people for a month -- were collected for distribution in the city by the Syrian Arab Red Crescent.
"More airdrops are planned for the coming days to meet food and other humanitarian needs for the besieged population," WFP said, adding that airdrops would always be a last resort used when land access was impossible.
IS has been battling to capture the airbase in Deir Ezzor, which provides the only supply route other than airdrops to the government-held sector of the city.
The February airdrop failed with some of the pallets missing the drop zone and others being damaged due to their parachutes failing to function properly.
Source: AFP
GMT 09:36 2018 Saturday ,06 January
Aoun inaugurates 'Rome Med 2017'GMT 22:39 2017 Sunday ,17 December
UAE Parliamentary Division calls for international partnershipGMT 20:54 2017 Sunday ,10 December
UAE Ambassador in Rome attends seminar on YemenGMT 20:12 2017 Friday ,08 December
Bahraini attends meeting at NATO Defence CollegeGMT 17:24 2017 Friday ,08 December
Bahraini attends meeting at NATO Defence College
Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2025 ©
Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2025 ©
Send your comments
Your comment as a visitor