Red Cross aid heads to Libyan border town
The Swiss Red Cross has sent a flight of humanitarian aid for refugees in Libya.
A charter flight carrying seven tonnes of material took off on Friday from Basel. The goods are headed for the town of Ras Jdir on the Libyan-Tunisian border.
The aid includes 3,500 wool blankets and ten large tents that can be used for shelter or as makeshift medical units. A second Swiss government-sponsored flight carrying family tents is due to leave on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross launched an appeal for SFr24 million ($26 million) to help over 200,000 people urgently affected by the Libyan crisis.
The aid will be used for food, water, medical care and hygiene for around 110,000 people inside Libya and another 100,000 who have crossed into Tunisia.
The organisation said there was a need to respond immediately to needs and warned that with continuing fighting, the refugee situation was expected to worsen in the coming weeks.
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