Aid breakthrough in Guinea

Aid got through with the support of the Guinean army

Food aid has reached stranded refugees in Guinea for the first time for several months.

The UN's relief agency, the World Food Programme (WFP), says that a convoy of 11 trucks reached the Parrot's Beak area in southern Guinea.

United Nations officials described the delivery by local charities as a "breakthrough".

Since fighting has broken out between Guinea and Liberian and Sierra Leonean rebels, hundreds of thousands of refugees have been trapped in southern Guinea.

First convoy

The trucks, travelling in the first in a series of planned convoys, were carrying 58 tonnes of food destined for 4,000 people in three separate camps.

The Parrot's Beak area, which juts into rebel-held Sierra Leone, has been a no-go area for aid agencies.

The BBC's West Africa correspondent, Mark Doyle, says the area is one of the most dangerous places in the world with at least six armed factions operating there.

According to the WFP, the food has got through under the escort of the Guinean army.

The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) has been trying to move refugees further north to safety, but it has been unable to reach 135,000 Sierra Leoneans stranded in the Parrot's Beak.

There is a constant danger that fighting could flare up again and stop the aid effort.