UN food agency threatens to stop aid to Darfur

ROME: A U.N. agency is threatening to suspend food distribution in Sudan's troubled Darfur region due to relentless attacks on its aid convoys.

The World Food Program says the bandits are hijacking the convoys and making it increasingly difficult to reach 3 million hungry people in the area.

The Rome-based agency says in a statement Sunday that more than 100 vehicles carrying WFP aid have been hijacked this year. It says many have been shot at and robbed, while 69 trucks and 43 drivers remain unaccounted for. Drivers are refusing to travel certain routes.

The agency's deputy representative in Sudan, Monika Midel, says operations in some areas of Darfur will be suspended if attacks continue.