Money low to feed 500,000 in deadly Congo region, UN says

JOHANNESBURG – The World Food Program says 500,000 hungry people are now on half-rations in Congo's troubled Kasai region because money is running low for the world's largest displacement crisis.

The U.N. agency said Wednesday it managed to quickly increase the number of people helped in recent weeks because of a lull in the fighting that started in August 2016 between government troops and militia members. But it says low funding from donors has hurt as crises elsewhere get more attention.

More than 3,300 people have been killed in the Kasai fighting, the Catholic Church estimated months ago. WFP says 3.2 million people are now short of food.

A separate statement by the Norwegian Refugee Council on Wednesday says 1.7 million people in the Kasai region have fled their homes this year.