The United Nations food agency says it has started moving food supplies through a new humanitarian corridor into western Libya.
The World Food Program (WFP) said in a statement on April 19 that the new corridor will allow it to send enough food to feed about 50,000 people for a month. It said a convoy of trucks crossed into Libya from Tunisia on Monday.
The food is to be distributed to civilians in several cities, including Tripoli, via the Libyan Red Cross.
The United Nations says the Libyan government has promised aid workers unlimited access to areas under its control.
However, the government has not committed to a ceasefire in the western city of Misurata, which is mostly controlled by rebels fighting to end Muammar Qaddafi's rule.
Government forces have been bombarding Misurata for days and the city is running short on basic food and medicines.
The New York-based Human Rights Watch group has said at least 267 people have been killed in Misurata during the past seven weeks of fighting between rebels and pro-Qaddafi forces over Libya's third-largest city.
Meanwhile, Libya's state television reported on April 19 that NATO war planes launched air strikes on Tripoli and Qaddafi's hometown of Sirte to the east. In Brussels, NATO said multiple strikes overnight targeted Qaddafi forces' facilities south of Tripoli.
compiled from agency reports