Thousands trapped by renewed fighting in western Upper Nile

The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) on Saturday expressed fear over a "worsening humanitarian crisis", saying it was unable to deliver urgent relief assistance to some 150,000 people trapped by fighting in western Upper Nile. A WFP statement said war between two rebel factions in the area had prevented the agency from delivering food aid to people in rebel-held towns for several months, "exacerbating an already fragile situation". "This is the last straw for thousands of families already struggling to cope, trapped in a vicious cycle of war - it is a desperate situation and the turmoil just carries on," WFP's Deputy Country Director David Fletcher said. "If we don't get access to them soon we could be faced with a very serious situation in a matter of weeks," he warned. The agency also expressed concern over thousands who left their homes last month for safety reasons and moved further inside western Upper Nile, as they were now "even more difficult to reach". WFP was equally worried that others who moved towards areas bordering northwestern Bahr el Ghazal and Jonglei would put extra strain on these areas, which are still suffering from last year's famine and floods. WFP said an additional 35,000 people in government-held areas of western Upper Nile were also in danger of being "cut off" from assistance due to a recent upsurge in insecurity, particularly around Bentiu town.