Syria conflict upsurge hampering food aid: UN

The UN's World Food Programme on Tuesday warned an escalation in the conflict in Syria was making it harder to send aid around the war-torn country and had forced it to suspend monitoring missions.

"Road access to and from Damascus has become more dangerous, making it difficult to dispatch food from WFP warehouses to some parts of the country -- particularly the north," the Rome-based UN aid agency said in a statement.

WFP said it had registered a rise in "indiscriminate attacks on its trucks in different parts of the country," adding that it was suspending all field missions to monitor food distribution because of the increased dangers.

Following a UN decision to reduce international staff in Syria announced on Monday, WFP said it was transferring seven non-essential staff to Jordan.

Around 20 international and 100 local WFP staff will remain in Syria.

The agency said that the food security situation for many Syrians was "rapidly deteriorating" with a sharp rise in bread and fuel shortages, as well as increased demand from the upsurge in internally displaced people.

Food prices have doubled in the areas worst affected by the conflict like the governorate of Aleppo and access to the market is limited, WFP said.

It added that the situation was particularly serious for families taking refuge in schools and public buildings with no cooking facilities.

The agency said it was managing to reach around 1.5 million people.

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