Food Supplies in Conflict-torn Libya Alarmingly Short

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) is rushing aid into areas of Western Libya that have been cut off since the fighting began between rebels and supporters of the Gaddafi regime.

A convoy of WFP trucks, loaded with high energy biscuits and wheat flour, entered Western Libya on Monday according to a WFP press release . WFP says the supplies will feed about 50,000 people for 30 days. The Libyan Red Crescent will distribute the food.

WFP Director Josette Sheeran says, "securing this humanitarian corridor is a first vital step in reaching thousands of hungry people affected by the conflict - in particular women, children and elderly people - whose food supplies are running alarmingly short."

WFP says they have reached "more than 187,000 people in eastern Libya with food assistance and pre-positioned more than 17,500 metric tons of food stocks inside the country and across the region."

This complex operation involves moving food by truck as well as by sea. WFP recently reached the Libyan port of Misrata with humanitarian supplies. WFP also transports supplies for other agencies including UNICEF and the World Health Organization.

In addition to feeding those inside Libya, there is a relief operation underway for those who have fled the country into Tunisia.

Funding for the humanitarian mission remains a crisis in itself. WFP needs 42 million dollars and has received less than half of that so far. The U.S. Food for Peace program is one of the donors to the Libya relief mission.

For more information visit the World Food Programme.