UN Says 10 Aid Workers Missing as South Sudan Faces Famine
UN Says 10 Aid Workers Missing as South Sudan Faces Famine
(Bloomberg) -- Ten aid workers have gone missing in South Sudan’s Central Equatoria region, the United Nations said, the latest blow for humanitarian staff in the war-torn nation that’s on the brink of famine.
The 10 South Sudanese nationals, including three staff from UN agencies, were last seen in a convoy leaving Yei town early Wednesday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in an emailed statement. The UN aid chief in the country, Alain Noudehou, said they “must be released without condition.”
A civil war that began in December 2013 in the East African country has claimed tens of thousands of lives, put some areas at risk of famine and spurred the continent’s largest refugee crisis. The UN statement Thursday described the disappearances as the second incident involving aid workers being held by armed groups in April, and the third in six months. It didn’t give further details.
To contact the reporter on this story: Okech Francis in Juba at fokech@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.
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