Mogadishu (Sunatimes)  The United Nations World Food Programme is set on Wednesday to airlift food to Somali capital, Mogadishu to aid to hundreds of thousands in dire need of humanitarian relief food.

WFP spokesman David Orr said that cargo flights carrying relief food and other nutritious food items to Somalia are expected to land at Mogadishu international airport on Wednesday.

He also revealed that this will be the first of series of flights and they will continue airlifting food to Somalia during the operation.

The UN’s World Food Programme readied aircraft with food aid for Somali capital Mogadishu amid intensifying relief efforts for millions hit by drought across the Horn of Africa region.

An estimated 3.7 million people in Somalia — around a third of the population — are on the brink of starvation after they were badly affected by worst drought in the region in 60 years.

UN officials say the drought has killed tens of thousands of people in recent months, forcing hundreds of thousands of desperate survivors from the worst-affected areas of Somalia to walk for weeks in search of food and water.

By Hawo Abdulle