UN says it is unable to reach 1 million hungry Syrians

GENEVA – The U.N. food agency says it is unable to help 1 million Syrians who are going hungry.

The World Food Program said Tuesday it is already helping 1.5 million of the 2.5 million Syrians that the Syrian Arab Red Crescent says are in need of it.

WFP spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs says the lack of security and its inability to use the Syrian port of Tartous for its shipment means that a large number of people will not get their aid.

Byrs also said that the agency has temporarily pulled its staff out of its offices in the Syrian cities of Homs, Aleppo, Tartous and Qamisly due to the rising dangers in those areas.