BOGOTA, Colombia, (Reuters) -- Illegal armed groups have been hijacking
                 World Food Program trucks carrying deliveries intended for displaced
                 children in Colombia, the U.N. agency said on Thursday.

                 Two attacks have occurred in the past two weeks and another five in the previous
                 five months, reducing the quantity of food available for WFP programs and also
                 increasing the agency's insurance and transport costs, the WFP said in a news
                 release.

                 It did not identify the armed groups that had stolen the food. But Colombia is
                 locked in a 37-year-old war involving extremist groups of left and right, and 40,000
                 mainly civilian lives have been lost in the past decade alone.

                 In the past two attacks, on Nov. 5 and Nov. 16 in the provinces of Choco and
                 Antioquia, 900 food rations meant for nutritional recovery for malnourished
                 children were stolen as were 18,732 fortified snacks for displaced school children.

                 "The fact that one out of four Colombians live in destitution and one out of five
                 children in rural Colombia under the age of 5 are malnourished, make preschool and
                 school feeding assistance critical for the physical and mental development of future
                 generations in Colombia," said WFP Representative, Els Kocken, according to the
                 release.

                 WFP provides nutritious snacks and meals for 35,000 displaced school children and
                 more than 7,000 preschool children in Colombia.

                 According to the agency, the food served in school is often the only meal the
                 children eat during the day, and food encourages them to go to class regularly.

                  Copyright 2001 Reuters