Raga depopulated after fighting, bombings

Raga town in western Bahr al-Ghazal has been bombed continuously since 2 June, when it was captured from government troops by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), the WFP reported this week.
A security assessment in late June by Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS) estimated that only 10,000 of a population, previously estimated at about 40,000, remained in the town, WFP stated in its June report for the southern sector of humanitarian operations in Sudan. In addition to Raga, several other locations in the region had been bombed, resulting in much of the area being inaccessible to OLS operations, it said. Several areas in great need of humanitarian assistance - such as Marial Bai, Nyamlell and Bararud - were added to the list of areas denied government flight access last month, WFP stated this week.

Reacting to a large increase in the number of internally displaced people (IDPs) in Bahr al-Ghazal as a result of fighting associated with an SPLA offensive in June, WFP distributed 2,598 (115 percent of the amount planned under the annual needs assessment) to just over 241,000 beneficiaries in northern Bahr al-Ghazal, the agency stated. In Aweil West, meanwhile, over 150,000 targeted beneficiaries could not be accessed due to insecurity or flight denials. The use of alternative airstrips in areas cleared by the government for aid flights was being considered by OLS, according to WFP.