The UN is intentionally providing only barebones aid in the former "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) stronghold of al-Raqa to avoid attracting more civilians to the still highly dangerous Syrian city, AFP reported Tuesday (April 24th).
A World Food Programme official said the agency did not want to start "too vigorous programmes" as that might give the impression al-Raqa city was safe.
"It is not safe. Nobody should actually live there," Jakob Kern said.
His comments came after the UN earlier this month conducted its first humanitarian mission to al-Raqa since it was liberated from ISIS last October.
The city remains littered with mines, said Kern, who visited al-Raqa a few weeks ago, with two people killed each day, on average, by stepping on mines or other unexploded devices.
The WFP is for now providing food aid to some 50,000 people in al-Raqa through local partners on the ground, but Kern said the organisation would not be sending in its own staff for the time being.
