UN transports another food shipment to displaced people in war-torn northern Sri Lanka

The United Nations has shipped another convoy of emergency food supplies to the Vanni region of northern Sri Lanka, as part of its ongoing humanitarian aid effort assisting thousands of people forced from their homes by violent conflict.

The World Food Programme (WFP) has dispatched a total of 4,120 tons food to an estimated 200,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the war-torn Vanni region, UN spokesperson Michele Montas told reporters today.

She said that the agency’s weekly dispatch of trucks carrying food to the region is in its the third month.

Intensified clashes in recent months between Government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) separatist group had forced tens of thousands of civilians to flee their homes and sparked warnings from Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other UN officials about the humanitarian impact on the people of Sri Lanka.

WFP provides food assistance to 1.1 million people in Sri Lanka, including IDPs, the economically affected, school children and other most vulnerable people.