Fighting has plunged Sudan into a humanitarian catastrophe, senior UN officials say

By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Senior U.N. officials say the conflict in Sudan has left 24 million people — half the country’s population — in need of food and other assistance. But only 2.5 million have received aid because of vicious fighting and a lack of funding. The operations director of the U.N. humanitarian agency and the deputy executive director of UNICEF painted a dire picture Friday of the devastation and upheavals in Sudan, with no peace talks in sight. They say that hotspots like the capital of Khartoum, southern Kordofan and western Darfur have been devastated by fighting and that the more than 110-day conflict has turned a humanitarian crisis into a catastrophe.