U.N. Says Staffer Shot Dead in Sudan's South Kordofan

A Sudanese driver for the World Food Program has been shot dead in war-torn South Kordofan state, the U.N. agency said on Sunday.

"Our driver was killed yesterday in an armed attack in an area some 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Kadugli," WFP spokeswoman Amor Almagro told AFP.

Jamal Al Fadil Farag Allah, married with five children, is the first WFP employee to be killed in Sudan, she said.

"He was driving fellow staff member Saad Yousif when their vehicle was attacked by two unknown assailants," Almagro said.

They were travelling in a marked U.N. vehicle on official business, she added.

Yousif was wounded but survived and was to be airlifted to Khartoum later on Sunday.

More than 200,000 refugees have fled a worsening humanitarian situation in South Kordofan and nearby Blue Nile states since fighting between government and rebel forces from the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) began in June last year, the United Nations says.

Ethnic minority insurgents of the SPLM-N fought alongside southern rebels during Sudan's 22-year civil war, which ended in a 2005 peace deal and South Sudan's independence in July last year.

There are no figures for how many people have died since the war in South Kordofan and Blue Nile began.

The government of Sudan has cited security concerns in placing tight restrictions on the operations of foreign relief agencies in the warzone.