ISLAMABAD, Jan 12: The World Food Programme has decided to deploy helicopters as part of its operational plan for Afghanistan to provide rapid assessment capability for remote areas towards the end of this month when winter conditions are most severe.

Speaking at a news conference here on Friday, the WFP spokesperson, Wagdi Othman, said in view of the reports of pockets of malnutrition in remote areas, the UN food agency has decided to bring the operational plan forward and immediately bring two helicopters to Mazar-i-Sharif.

He said four more helicopters will be based in Chaghcharan and Bamyan to cover the Central Highlands, the other area in Afghanistan where access becomes extremely difficult during the winter months.

“With these helicopters in place, in addition to being able to do assessments, the WFP will have the opportunity to respond to acute food needs with small amounts of emergency supplies to relieve the most immediate requirements while long-term arrangements are made.”

The spokesperson said the WFP has two C-130 aircraft in the region that can be used to airdrop food if delivery is not possible by trucks or donkey carts.

About food insecurity, the WFP spokesperson said villagers of Bonawash, Zarah District, in Balkh province, northern Afghanistan are suffering from acute food shortages and are close to starvation.

He said the WFP on Thursday dispatched two staff members to Zarah district from the recently re-opened WFP office in Mazar-i-Sharif to determine the quickest way to bring food to these people.