UN admits failure at food deliver in Syria

GENEVA - The Associated Press

The World Food Program (WFP) said yesterday it is unable to help 1 million Syrians who are going hungry. This month, the agency aims to help 1.5 million of the 2.5 million Syrians that the Syrian Arab Red Crescent says need it, spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs said.

 The lack of security and the agency’s inability to use the Syrian port of Tartus for its shipment means that a large number of people in the some of the country’s hardest hit areas will not get help, she said.

No more capacity to expand for Red Cross

“Our main partner, the Red Cross, is overstretched and has no more capacity to expand further,” Byrs said.

She also said that the agency has temporarily pulled its staff out of its offices in the Syrian cities of Homs, Aleppo, Tartus and Qamishli due to the rising dangers in those areas. But in December, WFP was able to reach for the first time in many months some hard-to-reach areas near the Turkish border, she said.