Thousands of tonnes of UN food aid stolen in South Sudan

Camp holding more than 4,500 tonnes of aid is stripped within hours during clashes in the capital Juba.

This handout photo provided by the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS) and released on July 16, 2016 shows a child crossing through mud as people receive rations of water atShow more

JUBA // It was looting on an epic scale: a month’s worth of food aid for over 220,000 South Sudanese, all stolen in just two days along with the giant warehouses that stored it.

As fighting raged between rival forces in the capital Juba last week, the United Nations World Food Programme’s main logistics hub was picked clean.

The WFP says it is “outraged” by the theft of more than 4,500 tonnes of food “intended for the poorest and most vulnerable people” in a country trying to stave off famine.

At least 300 people were killed in the city between July 8 and 11 during clashes pitting government forces against former rebels, and in the anarchy of war, many took advantage to steal what they could.

On Saturday, an angry soldier waving a gun stopped anyone entering or photographing the fenced compound, but it was clear to see that nothing of value remained.

The looters hammered at broken trucks for spare parts, and ripped off electrical wires from an office block.

Some men tore at the remaining few sections of thick plastic sheeting that had covered the metal frames of the rows of warehouses, now standing out like the bare bones of a rib cage.

Several people walked away balancing boxes of looted cooking oil or rolls of tin roofing sheets on their heads.

The spokesman for troops loyal to president Salva Kiir, Lul Ruai Koang, has said the looting in Juba was “unfortunate” and blamed it on the 1,400-strong force of troops loyal to vice-president Riek Machar.

The capital has been relatively calm since late Monday, when Mr Machar’s men were forced to flee after Mr Kiir’s troops, in tanks and helicopter gunships, pounded their positions with overwhelming firepower.

Much of the stolen food was trucked away from the sprawling base on the outskirts of Juba in a large-scale, well organised operation that would have required hundreds of trips.

Nearby residents said “men in uniform” even used a truck mounted with a crane to steal the minibus-sized generators that once powered the giant site.

“After the soldiers left, then ordinary citizens came to see what they could take,” said James Keri, who lives in the nearby Gudele district, an area dotted with burnt-out houses destroyed during the fighting.

Other goods were carted away in cars, motorbikes, wheelbarrows and on people’s heads.

More than a third of South Sudan’s population are expected to face severe food shortages over the coming months and the war-torn nation runs the risk of a “hunger catastrophe,” according to the UN.

WFP warned that the loss of the “vital” aid “will severely hamper” its efforts to support those caught up in the fighting.

* Agence France-Presse