The World - News from Sept. 5, 1988

Thousands of Sudanese have starved to death in the southern part of the country, and guerrilla fighting and seasonal flooding are complicating relief efforts, officials said. A southern insurgency, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, has fought since 1983 against what it charges is domination by the Muslim north over the Christian or animist south. Fighting has disrupted local food supplies. Destitute people trekking northward from famine-hit southern areas in search of food have been marooned for days, and many have died on the way. Efforts to move relief food to the region are hampered by washed out bridges and roads, and security problems.