WFP : A million may be hungry in Syria

Worsening security in Syria leads to the inability of aid groups to reach a million people who may be going hungry ahead of winter season, BBC cited the head of the World Food Programme (WFP) as saying on Friday. Ertharin Cousin said 2.5 million people needed help and the WFP had reached 1.5 million of them in November, up from 250,000 in April. One major effort as the weather turned colder was to distribute blankets and fuel for cooking and heating, she said."Security... doesn't exist," she added. She said the WFP lacked access and equipment and "it has been estimated that the numbers (needing help in coming months) can go up to 4 million"."The reality is not knowing how the situation is going to evolve, watching the conflict escalate in the north, not knowing what is going to happen in and around Damascus. It is challenging to say what will be the outcome in the coming months," said Cousin. "We have not had access to the centre of Aleppo for quite some time... It has got even more difficult in the last several weeks for us to operate on the outskirts," she said.