The trucks, which were also carrying health kits and rehydration salts for 10,000 children in local hospitals, were heading for the towns of Safwan, Al Zubayr and Abul Khasib, south of Basra.

"We are not crossing the frontline for now," UNICEF spokesman Damien Personnaz said here.

The UNICEF convoys started about two days ago, and are becoming "relatively routine now", despite problems with the size of the trucks in small towns, he added.

"The big problem remains water. According to our teams on the spot, there is a huge water problem which can become dramatic for people who have no access to a source of drinking water and are far from rivers," Personnaz said.

WAR.WIRE