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Over 7,000 displaced individuals face starvation in S. Sudan's Melut County

Xinhua, August 5, 2015 Adjust font size:

Approximately 7,600 displaced families in South Sudan's Upper Nile State face starvation after humanitarian assistance ran out last May, Radio Tamazuj reported Tuesday.

"Individuals affected by the conflict currently subsist on leaves to stay alive in the Melut County of South Sudan's Upper Nile state, as humanitarian conditions have worsened for over 7,600 families," Deng Kiir, Head of the Dethoma camp, was quoted as saying.

Kiir further said that humanitarian assistance ceased arriving as aid organizations suspended their activities after fighting erupted between government troops and opposition fighters last May.

He called on the government and humanitarian organizations to provide urgent assistance to the displaced families.

According to United Nations statistics, two-thirds of South Sudan's 12 million people are in dire need of aid, and 4.5 million face severe food shortages.

The recent military clashes at Upper Nile and Unity States forced thousands of civilians to flee to safe areas and United Nations bases for civilian protection.

South Sudan secured its independence in 2011. However, it plummeted into violent clashes in December 2013 as fighting erupted between troops loyal to President Salva Kiir and defectors led by his former deputy Riek Machar.

The conflict soon grew into an all-out war, with violence taking on an ethnic aspect, pitting president Dinka's tribe against Machar Nuer's ethnic faction.

The warfare killed thousands of South Sudanese and forced some 1.9 million individuals to flee their homes. Enditem