GENEVA, June 4 (Xinhua) -- The latest outbreak in violence in Syria's Idlib and north Hama has left dozens of casualties, burned several thousand acres of vital crops and farmland, and forced at least 300,000 people to flee their homes, the World Food Programme (WFP) said Tuesday here.
"It is unfortunate to see the escalation in violence in the northwest (Syria) reaching such dramatic levels. Not only are people displaced, lives lost but now farmlands vital for the food security of the region -- crops such as barley, wheat, and vegetables -- have been destroyed," Herve Verhoosel, a spokesperson for WFP, said.
"Destruction to farmland and the agricultural sector is unacceptable. These crops burning and damage to land and livelihoods will disrupt the sensitive food production cycles and could aggravate the food insecurity situation in the northwest for the near future," he added.
The spokesperson told a press briefing here that in that region, farmers are no longer able to access their fields or tend to their remaining crops during this harvest season, which runs until mid-June.
Saying that the burning is affected by other factors such as high temperatures in the region, he told the reporters that as part of its emergency response, WFP has reached 200,000 newly displaced people with ready-to-eat food rations.
