Clashes, Poor Roads Delay Relief Efforts

Relief agencies trying to avert a catastrophic famine in the southern part of the African nation say efforts to get food through have been hampered by an upsurge in fighting and a sharp deterioration in supply roads in neighboring Kenya. Humanitarian aid officials have estimated that 350,000 people are at risk over the next three to four months in Bahr el Ghazal province, the most affected area. Government forces are fighting the Sudan People’s Liberation Army and other rebels who want autonomy for the mainly Christian south from the Muslim Arab north.