20100816
africanews

NIAMEY (Reuters) - Aid groups in Niger evacuated Western staff from some regions due to security threats, a move that risks undermining relief efforts at the heart of a food crisis, aid workers said on Monday.

The staff are being pulled out of Maradi, in the south, and Zinder, in the east, regions at the heart of a food crisis that relief organisations are struggling to tackle after poor rains last year left millions short of food.

"I can confirm that the (U.N.'s) World Food Programme has told its staff based in Maradi and Zinder to evacuate and return to Niamey due to security reasons," Vigno Hounkanli, a WFP spokesperson, told Reuters on Monday.

There was no specific information on the threats.

The evacuation comes days after WFP said it had launched an operation to feed 670,000 young children and their families in Niger, where 8 million people are going hungry this year.

According to the United Nations, Niger is at the peak of the lean season, with food stocks empty and still several weeks before the October harvests.

Two other aid workers, who asked not to be named, said all U.N. agencies and charities were pulling Western staff out of the region for fear of kidnappings by groups linked to al Qaeda.