A WFP barge transporting food supplies on the Nile River | Credit | Courtesy

The World Food Program has condemned looting of its food assistance and destruction of humanitarian storage facilities in Pibor Administrative Area.

WFP says some 550 metric tons of food, enough to feed 33,000 food insecure people for one month, were looted and others destroyed in Gumuruk recently.

In a statement seen by Eye Radio, the– said, and I quote:

“WFP is outraged by the senseless violence and theft of its food assistance in Gumuruk, where people are on the brink of starvation and need every bit of assistance they can get to survive,” said Matthew Hollingworth, WFP representative and country director, in a statement.

This, the UN agency says, it happened in the first two weeks of May during the latest violence in the area.

It revealed that the food included cereals, pulses, cooking oil and nutrition supplements for the treatment and prevention of malnutrition in children and women.

According to WFP, increased attacks between local groups in May have displaced nearly 9,000 people from Gumuruk and Lekuangole to Pibor town.

Hollingworth called on all parties and groups in South Sudan to respect the neutrality of humanitarian workers and installations.

He says such attacks make their work increasingly challenging.

However, Hollingworth added that, regardless of the looting, WFP will continue to provide urgently needed food assistance to thousands of vulnerable people in the area.