The United Nations World Food Programme or WFP said it started distributing food rations to war-affected people in Blue Nile State.
WFP’s Country Director in Sudan Adnan Khan said the arrival of food aid in Blue Nile was a major breakthrough that enabled the UN to assist those displaced by the conflict or returnees in dire need of food assistance.Fighting between the Sudanese armed forces and the rebel SPLM-North broke out in Blue Nile state in September 2011, displacing and isolatiung tens of thousands.
WFP Programme Officer Arduino Mangoni said the agency was giving a two-month ration to 12,000 people, following an assessment early last month in Geissan and Kurmuk, two of the areas most severely affected by the conflict.
WFP plans to reach an additional 39,000 people in Kurmuk.