First Moroccan food aid plane lands in Niamey

A first Moroccan airplane loaded with emergency food aid landed Monday in the Nigerien capital, Niamey, to help this west-central African country stave off the exceptional drought impact.

"This gesture of solidarity of HM King Mohammed VI and of the Moroccan people towards the Nigerien people (...) has been very much appreciated by Niger's authorities," Morocco's ambassador in Niamey told the Moroccan Radio. Morocco urged, on Monday, the UN Secretary General to spare no efforts to help the brotherly country of Niger meet the needs of a large part of its population that is facing starvation and diseases. Over 3 million inhabitants, mostly women and children, fell prey to starvation in Niger because of a dire drought fanned by the invasion of desert locust.