"With winter coming fast, we need to get as much humanitarian relief pre-positioned as we can and the MI-26 can make a real difference to our ability to do it. It's a crucial element to this very complex operation," WFP's chief of logistics service Amer Daoudi said.
"The window of opportunity is quickly closing, with about four weeks remaining until snow seals off mountain villages. Unless further contributions quickly materialise, we will not be able to deliver the needed quantities of relief aid, and will have to start phasing down our helicopter fleet," he warned.
In another step to get life-saving tents, blankets and stoves to survivors before winter strikes, the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) have agreed to extend and expand their two-week-old airlift. UNHCR is delivering more than half a million blankets, and over 20,000 tents.
Five emergency teams are on the ground working with partners to get all relief items transported and distributed to the neediest survivors. So far, more than 8,500 tents have been distributed.