The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has distributed urgently needed food assistance provided by the Government of Iraq to nearly 70,000 people in the besieged cities of Haditha and Al Baghdadi in the central governorate of Anbar, according to WFP.

Lack of steady access to these cities, located some 240 kilometres northwest of Baghdad, has left tens of thousands of people without humanitarian assistance for more than seven months. Haditha and Al Baghdadi have been under siege since March 2015, severely impairing humanitarian access and exacerbating humanitarian needs.

WFP food assistance last reached the two cities in April through a local partner, which distributed ready-to-eat rations to nearly 7,000 conflict-affected people in Haditha.

The Iraqi Ministry of Trade donated 1,050 metric tons of wheat flour, rice, sugar and vegetable oil to help cover the food needs of affected families for one month in Haditha and Al Baghdadi. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) covered the cost of handling, transporting and distributing the food.

More than 3 million Iraqis have been displaced by the conflict in Iraq since mid-June last year. In October, WFP reached over 1.1 million Iraqi IDPs across all 18 governorates with food assistance.

Sources: MENA