UN Agency Confirms All Syria Aid Airdrops Missed Target

All pallets with aid for the besieged eastern Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor missed their target or were damaged, a spokesperson for the UN’s World Food Programme confirmed Thursday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Wednesday, an WFP plane dropped 21 pallets by parachute into Deir ez-Zor. UN humanitarian chief Stephen O’Brien said initial reports from the Syrian Arab Red Crescent team on the ground indicated that pallets had landed in the target area as planned.

But the WFP spokesman was later cited by the state broadcaster BBC as saying that ten pallets had not been accounted for, seven landed in a disputed territory and four were damaged. They contained beans, salt, rice, and vegetable oil.

O’Brien admitted that airdropping humanitarian aid presented "a number of operational risks," but the method was regarded as a last resort in some areas of Syria.

UN Secretary-General's spokesman Stephane Dujarric said they planned to make another attempt to bring relief aid to the city in coming days. The plane crew were asked to make all necessary adjustments.

Last summer, the UN brought aid to some 110,000 people in besieged areas. The UN has approval to reach another 230,000 people, including through the airdrops into Deir ez-Zor, where a population of 200,000 is believed to be at risk of starvation.