"We need substantial help, and the helicopters are critical, given the weather, the rugged terrain and our need to pre-position a huge amount of food in places throughout the affected area before the weather gets terrible," WFP executive director James Morris told a news conference here.

Millions of quake victims in mountanious areas are dependent on food supplies from the UN aid agencies, local government and humanitarian groups. The October 8 earthquake killed nearly 74,000 people in Pakistani Kashmir and parts of the country's North West Frontier Province.

Morris said the WFP could keep making aid flights to remote areas through January, but needed some 70 million dollars to fund the air operations until the end of April.

The United Nations has launched a flash appeal for 550 million dollars of emergency aid but says it has got only 41 percent of the funding after two months.

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