Shafaq News / The United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP) announced on Tuesday the suspension of food aid distribution in areas controlled by Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Earlier on Tuesday, the American network "ABC" reported that the WFP decided to end a key aid program in various regions of Syria in January, where over 12 million people lack regular access to sufficient food.

Facing a decline in funding, the UN-affiliated program stated in a press release that it made "this difficult decision after nearly a year of negotiations, during which an agreement to reduce the number of direct food aid beneficiaries from 9.5 million to 6.5 million people was not reached."

The program warned that "food stocks have almost depleted in areas under full control of Sanaa authorities, and resuming food aid could take nearly four months even with an immediate agreement with the authorities due to the disruption in the humanitarian food supply chain."

It further mentioned that it will continue operations related to resilience-building, livelihoods, nutrition, and school meals to mitigate the impact of the temporary halt in food distribution, contingent upon the availability of necessary funding and cooperation from authorities in Sanaa.

The WFP clarified that "general food aid distribution will continue in government-controlled areas with a greater focus on the most vulnerable families, aligning with the announced resource shifts in August."

The World Food Programme had previously indicated the necessity to scale back its operations in Yemen due to a lack of international funding.

Yemen has been engulfed in a power struggle between Houthi rebels and the government since mid-2014, resulting in the deaths and injuries of hundreds of thousands and causing one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, according to United Nations estimates.

A Saudi-led military coalition intervened in 2015 alongside the government against Houthi rebels supported by Iran, who control the capital Sanaa and extensive areas in the country.