BREAKING NEWS

UN: Sudan border fighting displaces over 400,000 people

KHARTOUM - About 417,000 people have been displaced in Sudan's border states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile as a result of ongoing fighting between the army and insurgents, the United Nations said on Tuesday.
Fighting broke out between Sudan's army and SPLM-North rebels in June in South Kordofan which borders newly-independent South Sudan. Violence spread to the neighboring northern border state of Blue Nile in September.
About 82,000 people have fled both northern states to South Sudan or Ethiopia to escape fighting, UN officials told reporters in the capital Khartoum. Some 35,000 people from South Kordofan have fled to Khartoum to stay mostly with relatives.
The humanitarian situation was deteriorating, especially in areas controlled by the SPLM-North, as UN and aid agencies were still being denied access, said Peter de Clerq, UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan.