Mass looting of food aid in violence hit South Sudan

As fighting raged between forces allied to South Sudan’s president Salva Kiir and those loyal to vice-president Riek Machar in the capital Juba last week, the World Food Program’s (WFP) food storage facility in the city was picked clean.

The warehouse which held a month’s supply of food and nutrition for over 200,000 people was looted and the WFP says it was outraged by the theft of the supplies, meant to reach the “poorest and most vulnerable people” in a country that is trying to starve off famine.

“While the extent of the looting is not yet clear, we fear that the loss of these vital food supplies will severely hamper WFP’s ability to assist the tens of thousands of people who have fled their homes because of the violence,” said the WFP deputy regional director, Vernon Archibald.

The warehouse serves as WFP’s main logistical hub in the country and is used as a supply point to the agency’s operations in the the rest of South Sudan.

It is estimated that nearly 5 million people out of a population of 11 million South Sudanese is dependent on food aid.