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Two WFP-chartered C-130 Hercules aircraft, each carrying 40 mt of high-protein food, flew into Asmara from Lokichokkio, northern Kenya, on Tuesday morning. A further 40 mt was flown in on Tuesday aboard an Ilyushin-76 from Entebbe Airport, outside the Ugandan capital Kampala, WFP officials told IRIN. With another flight due on Wednesday, the agency would have sufficient supplies to feed 60,000 people in Eritrea for the next four days, they added. In addition, it is planned to purchase an initial total of 600 mt of high-protein biscuits as soon as possible, enough to feed 260,000 people for one week, the agency said.
The WFP Emergency Coordinator in Asmara, Kofi Owusu-Tieku, said in a press statement that, though these deliveries were an important first step, larger quantities were still urgently needed. “We appeal to all donor countries to assist us as quickly as possible, as with each day that goes by, the situation for hundreds of thousands of Eritreans - many of whom fled with virtually no supplies - becomes ever more precarious,” he said.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
