UN resumes food air drops in Syria’s Deir ez Zoor

The UN said Tuesday it had resumed air drops of desperately-needed aid to Deir ez Zoor in Syria after halting the deliveries over two weeks ago due to heavy fighting.

The UN’s World Food Programme had on January 15 suspended air drops to the eastern city due to heavy fighting after a fierce assault by ISIS terrorists.

WFP said it had resumed the air drops -- the only way to get aid into the city -- on Sunday after finding a "new, safer location for the drop zone."

"We are glad that we can continue to bring life-saving food and other aid supplies to this besieged town," WFP spokeswoman Bettina Luetscher told reporters in Geneva.

She said the agency had been unable to use the old drop zone due to "a real danger to the volunteers on the ground."

Since deliveries to Deir ez Zoor began in April 2016, the UN has staged 179 air drops, containing more than 3,340 metric tonnes of food and other aid, supporting some 93,500 people in need, WFP said.