WFP suspends food air drops to Syria’s Deir Al-Zour

The UN’s World Food Program has temporarily suspended air drops of vital supplies to the eastern Syrian city of Deir al-Zor due to heavy fighting there, a program spokeswoman, Bettina Luescher said.

Luescher said the last food air drop was on Sunday, adding that the program has carried out 177 air drops for 110,000 people in the city since beginning the operation in April.

The Islamic State militant group launched its fiercest attack in a year against the besieged enclave which is controlled by the Syrian government forces in an attempt to isolate it from a nearby military air base in a battle that killed dozens.