UN food agency nears targets in race to feed Afghans as winter sets in

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is nearing its targets for getting enough food into Afghanistan to feed the country's beleaguered people in the winter months ahead, a spokesman for the agency said today.

"Gradually we are becoming more optimistic that the race with hunger and snow in Afghanistan to reach all the people we need to reach by the end of the year could be won," Khaled Mansour told reporters in Islamabad.

Since the beginning of October, WFP has delivered some 49,000 tonnes of food into Afghanistan - enough for more than 5 million people for one month. "Our monthly target is 52,000 tonnes per month, so if all goes well and WFP can maintain this momentum - an average of 2,000 tonnes per day - we should be able to make the target," he said.

The spokesman attributed this success in part to increased trucking capacity, while paying tribute to the agency's dedicated staff who "are still working under extremely difficulty conditions inside Afghanistan."

"We are seeking solutions together with our partners," he said. "Whenever conditions stabilize to a reasonable extent and aid workers can go in, WFP seizes this window of opportunity and sends as much food as possible in."