UN official: Humanitarian situation dire in Burkina Faso

By SAM MEDNICK
Associated Press

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) — A top U.N. official says the humanitarian situation has become so dire in Burkina Faso that some women and children have only eaten leaves and salt for weeks. U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths visited the West African nation on Thursday. He says hunger is becoming more severe as blockades and violence cut off communities. A quarter of Burkina Faso’s population is in need of emergency assistance but less than a third of the country’s response plan is funded, according to Griffiths. Burkina Faso battles a jihadi insurgency that has killed thousands of people and displaced some 2 million people. Griffiths’ visit followed the country’s second military coup in less than nine months.