DHAKA: The UN has asked for $16.4bn for its aid operations in 2015, with the largest single sum - $7.2bn - going to help Syrian refugees.

Its last annual humanitarian appeal was for $13bn, making the new request a record for the organisation.

The request comes as aid agencies warn they are running out of cash to fund this year’s operations, reports the BBC.

Last week the World Food Programme announced it would have to cut food rations to Syrian refugees.

In its new appeal, the UN is requesting $2.8bn to help those displaced by the conflict inside Syria. It is seeking another $4.4bn to help more than 3,250,000 refugees registered in neighbouring countries.

Last year, Syria, South Sudan and the Central African Republic figured large in UN aid operations.

Since then, the conflict in Ukraine, the rise of Islamic State militant group in Iraq and Syria, and the Ebola epidemic have added to the aid demand.

UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos told reporters in Geneva, ‘We are facing needs at an unprecedented level’.

BDST: 2118 HRS, DEC 08, 2014