UN says nearly 12 million facing acute hunger in Sudan

By SAMY MAGDY
Associated Press

CAIRO (AP) — The United Nations has painted a grim picture for Sudan’s humanitarian situation. It says Wednesday that almost a quarter of the country’s population was inching toward starvation amid a dire shortage of funding. It says 11.7 million people were facing acute hunger between June and September, an increase by nearly 2 million, compared to the same period last year. It says the deepening food crisis in Sudan is caused mainly by the county’s fragile economy, prolonged dry spells, reduced areas cultivated and erratic rainfall. The dark assessment comes as the East African nation has been plunged into turmoil since a military coup in October that upended the country’s short-lived transition to democracy.