Kabul, May 17 (IANS): More than 7,000 families have received food assistance in two Afghan provinces in recent days, authorities said.

In eastern Parwan province, the United Nations World Food Programme with the cooperation of the Afghan Rural Rehabilitation and Development Ministry distributed food packages to 4,400 destitute families in Jabalusaraj and Surkhi Parsa districts, the Ministry confirmed in a statement on Monday.

The packages consisted of flour, cooking oil, beans, and salt, according to the statement.

Besides, 2,640 displaced, deprived as well as drought-affected and most vulnerable families received food assistance in northern Jawzjan province, Abdul Qayyum Nazari, Head of the province's Refugees and Repatriations Department, told Xinhua news agency.

"The benefited people were identified by surveys in provincial capital Shiberghan city and 11 suburban districts," he said.

According to Nazari, more humanitarian assistance would be provided to destitute families in Jawzjan in the coming days or weeks, Xinhua news agency reported.

More than 22 million Afghans out of nearly 35 million of the country's population are facing acute food shortages and the war-torn country would face humanitarian catastrophe if not assisted, according to aid agencies' reports.