News Article by REUTERS posted on August 17, 2000 at 05:45:28: EST (-5 GMT)
Agency distributes food in war-torn Sudan
By Alfred Taban
KHARTOUM, Aug 17 (Reuters) - The United Nations' World
Food
Programme has begun distributing food in two towns in
Sudan's
oil-rich Unity state, where fighting has left thousands
homeless,
a spokeswoman said on Thursday.
Makena Walker said the agency had begun distributing 240
tonnes of food in
Bentiu and Rubkona, about 750 km (470 miles)
southwest of Khartoum, on August
12.
Trucks were taking another 362 tonnes from El Obeid, about
450 km (280
miles) north of Bentiu, but heavy rain hampered
delivery. Walker said WFP had
put aside 500 tonnes of food to
send to Bentiu and Rubkona by air or road.
"We are fully prepared to respond to the needs of the
increasing number of
displaced in Unity state," she said.
Government troops are fighting the rebel Sudan People's
Liberation Army
for control of Unity's oil fields. Clashes
between pro-government militias
have made it more difficult for
aid agencies to reach the neediest.
Walker described conditions in the two towns as "very
fragile," adding
that the displaced population had climbed to
38,935 from 9,500 in December in
Bentiu and to 5,822 from 4,000
in Rubkona. Most new arrivals were children
and women without
food, shelter or medical services.
"A lot of these people have come with their cattle, which
has strained the
existing humanitarian services as the animals
too have to be fed," she said.
Walker said at least two food planes had left El Obeid and
Lokichokio in
Kenya for southern Sudan on Thursday.
U.N. relief flights to the south were suspended last week
after government
planes dropped 18 bombs on Mapel, a base used
by the humanitarian operation
in a rebel-controlled area.
Flights resumed on Wednesday after the government gave
assurances about
the safety of U.N. staff and aircraft.
Civil war has afflicted Sudan since 1983, pitting Moslem-led
governments
in the north against autonomy-seeking rebels in the
mainly Christian and
animist south.
The conflict is estimated to have caused up to two million
deaths, many
from war-induced famine and disease.