GENEVA - As conflict escalates In Mali, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said Friday some 700,000 Malians are estimated to be uprooted in the next few months.

UNHCR is urgently reinforcing its staff and resources for the country in anticipation of the further new displacement, said Melissa Fleming, chief spokesperson with the agency.

There are now 147,000 Malian refugees in surrounding countries including Mauritania, Niger, Burkina Faso, Algeria, Guinea and Togo, and close to 229,000 displaced people inside Mali.

Elisabeth Byears of the World Food Program (WFP) stressed at the press briefing that there was a reduced humanitarian presence in Mopti which is directly impacting distribution plans in the region.

WFP was planning the delivery of food assistance to 1,500 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Mopti this week, which had to be put on hold.

Armed groups in the north of Mali started moving their armed factions south on 10 January, which triggered the intervention of the French army in support to the Malian army, leading to the deterioration of humanitarian situation in the country.