U.N. receives reports of malnutrition in Sudanese border states

The U.N. "has received alarming reports of malnutrition in two Sudanese border states where the army is fighting insurgents," according to Valerie Amos, U.N. under-secretary general for humanitarian affairs, Reuters reports. Since fighting broke out in June in the South Kordofan and Blue Nile states near the border of the newly independent South Sudan, "U.N. agencies and aid groups have only been able to keep small teams of local staff on the ground and the government has stopped any aid workers visiting areas where there has been fighting," the news service writes. Amos "urged Sudan to lift a ban on international U.N. staff traveling to both border states" so the agency could ensure it has staff with the correct skills on the ground, according to Reuters (Laessing, 1/4).