LOC15:35
12:35 GMT
GENEVA, March 13 (KUNA) -- The UN World food program (WFP) urgently requires USD 45 million to continue its Emergency Operation in Iraq until June, it announced on Friday.
The humanitarian situation in the cities of Samarra in Salah al-Din and Al-Baghdadi in Anbar is worsening, said Elisabeth Byrs, WFP Senior Communications Officer , Geneva Spokesperson in a press briefing.
Thousands of people are in desperate need of basic humanitarian assistance such as food, clean water and medicine.
"In Salah al-Din governorate, initial reports indicate that more people are still arriving in Samarra due to the ongoing military operations. Meanwhile in Anbar governorate, the city of Al-Baghdadi and other areas have been under siege for weeks, with thousands of Iraqis suffering from the lack of food, clean water and medicine," Byrs added.
WFP is sending 3,000 ready-to-eat-food rations, enough to feed 15,000 people for three days, to the besieged city of Al-Baghdadi in Anbar governorate, due to arrive on March 15, she revealed. Logistics teams on the ground have identified a safe route through Kerbala to reach Al-Baghdadi.
As people flee fighting in Tikrit, she said that the WFP had sent ready-to-eat food rations to Samarra and Tuz city to the north in Salah al-Din governorate -- enough to feed 50,000 people for three days, as well as other emergency supplies for other humanitarian agencies, Byrs noted.
On 4 March, the WFP sent 5,000 ready-to-eat food rations to Samarra, enough to feed 25,000 people for three days. Security allowing, WFP will start distributing monthly family food rations in the coming days and has identified two partners on the ground.
Last week, the WFP distributed5,000 ready-to-eat rations to help feed up to 25,000 people displaced from Tikrit and now living in Tuz.
WFP is ready to respond to the influx of people fleeing fighting in Tikrit and has prepositioned in its warehouse in Baghdad enough food to feed 75,000 people for three days.
In Baghdad, WFP has distributed 600 ready-to-eat rations, enough to feed 3,000 people, to families displaced from Tikrit and Al Baghdadi who have managed to relocate to the capital.
In early March, food prices in Salah Al-Din increased significantly over the previous week due to conflict. In Anbar, Kirkuk and Salah Al-Din the price of wheat is double that in Baghdad, Byrs said. (end)
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