August 25, 2009


The United Nations has warned that parts of southern Sudan could be in pre-famine conditions, with 1.3 million people across the country in need of food aid.

The number of people needing assistance has surged since the beginning of the year due to inter-tribal conflict, poor rains and the high cost of food commodities in the region.

"On top of the one million people we already plan for assistance this year there will be about another 300,000 people who we will need to provide assistance quite urgently between now and December this year," Kenro Oshidari, the World Food Programme (WFP) representative in Sudan, said.

Between January and August the south has seen an increase in violence that has left hundreds dead and about 250,000 others displaced.

In June, boats carrying food aid from WFP to the remote area of Akobo in Jonglei state were attacked and sank, forcing the organisation to start airlifting food to the displaced with the help of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Sudan.

The violence comes as the government in Khartoum and the autonomous government in South Sudan, led by the former rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, prepare for a referendum in 2011 on whether to split.

aljazeera