■ More than 7 million people are facing severe hunger in South Sudan.

Five years into civil war, 7 million-plus suffering

KANDAK, South Sudan — “I’m afraid I’ll starve to death,” Gatdin Bol said. Curled on a dirt floor, the frail 65-year-old said he survives only by eating fruit from the trees in this remote South Sudanese town in the shadow of civil war.

Three months ago when government troops attacked Bol’s hometown in Jonglei state they stole everything he owned, including his food, he said. He fled with his wife and four children, walking for two months until they reached Kandak in Ayod County. They remain hungry. The planting season has yet to begin and they missed the United Nations’ food registration and aren’t eligible for assistance.

Five years into South Sudan’s civil war more than 7 million people are facing severe hunger without food aid, according to the latest analysis by the U.N. and the government. Aid workers warn that a recent surge in fighting could once again plunge thousands of people into famine.

“In the places where there is displacement and we can’t get there, it’s a cause for concern,” Adnan Khan, the World Food Program country director, told The Associated Press during a food distribution this week in the rebel-held town of Kandak.

Ayod is one of 11 counties in South Sudan that face extreme hunger. Remote and lacking basic resources like water and health care, the majority of its residents subsist on food aid.

“Ayod remains precarious as people heavily rely on food drops, which they then have to share with displaced kin. With very few of them cultivating and the rainy season set to disrupt humanitarian activities the situation can only get worse,” said Nicholas Kerandi, food security analyst for the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization.

During the visit to Kandak, several people told AP they had nothing to eat.

“The army looted my garden and took my food. If I don’t find food I can go days without eating,” said Puot Kuony, hanging his head.

In March, the 45-year-old said he saw soldiers shoot and kill his uncle and run over him with a truck before stealing Kuony’s food while attacking his hometown of Wau. He fled to Kandak with his wife and three children.

Sam Mednick The Associated Press Gatdin Bol, 65, who fled fighting and survives by eating fruit from the trees, sits Wednesday under a tree in the town of Kandak, South Sudan. The nation is wracked by civil war.