Aid groups warn of looming Kenyan humanitarian crisis

0 Comments | AFP, January, 2008

NAIROBI (AFP) — Aid groups on Sunday warned of a looming humanitarian emergency after post-election violence in Kenya as teams struggled to access tens of thousands of displaced civilians across the country.

With widespread insecurity and supplies close to depletion, field teams said their worst fears were mainly for the country's western region.

"Food and clean water supplies are now running dangerously low, especially in and around (the western city of) Kisumu," said Wubeshet Woldermariam, country director of the Merlin medical charity.

"People are being forced to drink unsafe water, risking diarrhoeal diseases, infection and dehydration. The longer the crisis continues, the greater the risk to people's health," he warned in a statement.

"If peace...