NAIROBI, Jan. 3 (Xinhuneta) -- The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) has dispatched 277,000 kg of food aid to assist thousands of Somalis affected by the tsunami, a WFP official said here Monday.

    A total of 198,000 kg of food has already reached the areas so far identified as in need of assistance following the effects of the huge waves on the northeastern coast of Somalia, and another 79,000 kg food aid is still on the way, said Laura Melo, the WFP'spublic information officer for Africa.

    The WFP is making plans to assist up to 30,000 Somalis affectedby the tsunami for the next six months, and a total of 2,700,000 kg of food aid worth 2.8 million US dollars has been requested forthe operation, Melo said in a statement.

    Four WFP teams are currently working in Somalia to assist victims of the tsunami, distributing food and assessing the damageon the ground, said Melo.

    About 30,000 to 50,000 people in Somalia are in need of immediate assistance after the Horn of Africa country was hit hardby tidal waves at the weekend, the WFP said, adding most of them are fisherman who lost their boats, fishing equipment and household contents.

    "Affected population in need of assistance is estimated at around 4,000 families or some 30,000 people. It is hard to confirmthe precise number of casualties and people affected, because the area is remote and settlements or villages are widely dispersed along the coast, " the WFP said in an earlier statement.

    "The numbers might increase as we may get more information fromthe field. Since the tidal waves hit, access has become very difficult," the statement said.

    The efforts to assess the full extent of the damage are being hampered by the poor transport and communication networks, which also affect the delivery of emergency relief, the United Nations Development Program said last week.

    The tidal waves struck the Somali coast late December as the effect of a series of strong undersea Sumatra earthquakes hit the east African coast.

    The earthquake, measuring at 8.7 on the Richter Scale, was registered on Dec. 26, 2004, west of the island of Sumatra, triggering tsunamis, or tidal waves, in south and south-east Asia,where at least 160,000 people have been killed in the disaster. Enditem