Americas

Americas

United Nations resumes food aid operations in northern Mali

05 February 2013 21:03 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The United Nations has restarted its food aid operations, which were stopped after France invaded the West African country nearly one month ago, in northern Mali, APA reports quoting Press TV.

The UN food agency's spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday that "The World Food Program has relaunched its distribution of food and nutritional supplements” in the northern part of Mali.

France launched its war in Mali on January 11 under the pretext of halting the advance of the fighters in the West African country.

Thousands of people in Mali have been forced to flee their homes amid the French war, which involved some 3,500 troops on the ground supported by warplanes, helicopters and armored vehicles.

Byrs added that seven boats with 600 tons of aid have left the river port of Mopti at the weekend toward a district in the Timbuktu region.

The aim is to provide nearly 35,000 people, including almost 3,000 children and over 600 pregnant women and new mothers with a month's worth of food aid.

This comes as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said more than 5,000 Malian refugees have arrived in Mauritania alone since January 11.

The United States, Canada, Britain, Belgium, Germany, and Denmark have already said they would support the French war in Mali.

On Monday, US Vice President Joe Biden appreciated the French President Francois Hollande's "decisive" decision to invade Mali and the "competence and capability" of French military forces.

After a meeting with Hollande in Paris, Biden said Washington and Paris have agreed on the need to hand over the war in Mali to a UN mission.

He added that the US "stands with France and other partners in Mali" and "provides intelligence support, transportation for the French and African troops and refueling capability for French aircraft" in the West African country.