The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) plans to fly some 430 tons of aid materials to victims in conflicts between Georgia and Russia from its regional logistics base Jordan, local daily Jordan Times reported Friday.

A flight has left Amman to the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, carrying 34 tons of aid materials, including blankets, tarps, buckets and hygienic items, according to the ICRC delegation in Amman.

It was the first of five charted cargo flights to send aid materials to people there, and future shipments including rice and food parcels will be distributed to 5,000 families, reaching some 25,000 people affected by the conflict, said ICRC.

"Tens of thousands are in need in areas of conflict, and it is imperative we gain rapid access to South Ossetia to bring urgent help to those in need," an official with the ICRC delegation in Amman said.

The ICRC has been regularly present in Jordan since 1967, helping hundreds of thousands in need across the region stretching as far as Yemen.

(Xinhua News Agency August 15, 2008)