WFP resumes airdrop operations in war-torn S. Sudan

October 11, 2016 (JUBA) – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said it resumed airdrop operations in war-torn South Sudan on Tuesday after a temporary suspension.

“WFP was forced to temporarily suspend airdrops due to a misunderstanding regarding flight clearances,” George Fominyen, the WFP spokesperson told Sudan Tribune.

He said the issues that forced the agency to temporarily suspend these operations were resolved and WFP had airdrops of much needed food in a couple of locations.

“WFP food drops are key to our ability to deliver assistance in remote locations, which cannot be reached by road,” said Fominyen.

According to the WFP official, the organisation had been using airdrops in the Greater Upper Nile Region (Unity, Jonglei, Upper Nile states) for more than two years now and very recently in the Greater Bahr el Ghazal region this year.

South Sudan is currently facing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises as over a million of its population have displaced by a violent conflict that broke out in 2013.

Over four million people, WFP says, face food insecurity and the number is likely to rise with the renewed violence that continues in the young nation.

In the past authorities in the world’s youngest nation have been criticized for blocking aid delivery in the country in violation of the Status of Forces Agreement.

(ST)