KABUL, Afghanistan 

The Turkish Red Crescent on Thursday distributed food aid to 500 families in Afghanistan’s northern Balkh province, it said in a statement.

In a distribution ceremony held in Mazar-i-Sharif, Turkey's Consul General Ferit Ahmet Ziya, the organization's Afghan delegation head, and officials from Afghan Red Crescent were present.

Food parcels were handed over to families who migrated from Faryab, Sar-e Pol and Jowzjan provinces due to security concerns and economic hardship.

The supplies included rice, beans, oil, sugar, green tea, salt and biscuits.

*Writing by Burak Dag in Ankara