New York, United States - The World Food Programme (WFP) on Thursday expressed deep concern about the deadly ethnic violence in South Sudan’s Jonglei state, where thousands of people have had to flee their homes in recent days. In a statement made available to PANA in New York, the WFP said: 'The violence between the Lou Nuer and Murle groups has pushed the food security situation to crisis levels” in Jonglei, the largest state in South Sudan'.

It also disclosed that thousands of Murle civilians, including many women and children, have sought refuge in forests and swamps to avoid attack from rival ethnic groups, and they have little or no access to food and clean drinking water.

'This follows an attack last weekend against the town of Pibor by a 6,000-strong column of armed youths from the Lou Nuer tribe,' WFP said.

The agency said it had started rushing supplies to Pibor residents, with enough emergency rations to feed more than 1,000 people for two weeks.

It also said it had pre-positioned food in the town of Boma, where hundreds of displaced people have gathered and continue to arrive.

Meanwhile, Ms. Lise Grande, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for South Sudan, has said the exact number of casualties from the attack was unknown, but peacekeepers serving with the UN mission (UNMISS) had helped to rescue and evacuate civilians and deter further violence.

Grande said in a statement that a joint UN-Government humanitarian delegation that visited Pibor in the aftermath of the attack found the town to be intact, but the humanitarian situation to be grim.

'We saw many people returning, and their condition was serious,” she said. “Families had been out in the bush for up to a week.'

Pana 06/01/2012