U.N. declares famine in sections of South Sudan

KAMPALA, Uganda — Famine has been declared in two counties of South Sudan, according to an announcement by the South Sudan government and three U.N. agencies, which say the calamity is due to prolonged civil war and an entrenched economic crisis that has devastated the wartorn East African nation.

The official classification of famine highlights the human suffering caused by South Sudan’s three-year civil war, and even as it is declared, President Salva Kiir’s government is blocking food aid to some areas, according to U.N. officials.

More than 100,000 people in two counties of Unity state are experiencing famine and there are fears that it will spread as an additional 1 million South Sudanese are on the brink of starvation, said the announcement. Battles still rage in many areas.

“Our worst fears have been realized,” said Serge Tissot, head of the Food and Agriculture Organization in South Sudan. He said the war has disrupted the otherwise fertile country.

Roughly 5.5 million people, or about 50 percent of South Sudan’s population, are expected to be severely food insecure and at risk of death in the coming months, the report said.

Famine is in parts of Nigeria and is threatened in Somalia and Yemen.

Los Angeles Times and The New York Times contributed.