World Food Program should aim to start Syria aid air drops: State Department

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. State Department called on Wednesday for the World Food Program to move ahead with planning to deliver humanitarian aid to besieged Syrian communities by air, saying ground delivery of aid has been insufficient to help those caught in the civil war.

State Department spokesman John Kirby said some aid had been delivered by ground to two Syrian communities on Wednesday, but the frequency “is far from sufficient” to provide the kind of relief needed by hundreds of thousands of Syrian people.

“The United States supports the World Food Program moving forward on their planning to carry out air operations to provide additional aid,” Kirby said.

(Reporting by Arshad Mohammed and David Alexander; Editing by Eric Walsh)