Thousands of people in in the disputed area of Abyei are likely to face severe hunger due to lack of food and growing population after many families fled violence in other parts of South Sudan, a top administrator.

The head of Abyei administrative area, Kuol Alor, told Radio Tamazuj that that there is an acute food shortage in the region. He further said the situation is worsening with the increasing influx of people fleeing the war in South Sudan.

Alor called on aid agencies to provide humanitarian aid to the refugees to avert a humanitarian crisis in Abyei, while criticizing the UN peacekeepers in Abyei (UNISFA) for failing to carry out development projects in the area.

Sudan and South Sudan are disputing the oil-rich Abyei, an area inhabited by Sudan's Arab Misseryia tribe and South Sudan's Ngok Dinka tribe.