The United Nations humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher has urged the Security Council to act urgently to prevent South Sudan (a landlocked East African nation that has suffered recurring civil conflict since gaining independence in 2011) from sliding into full-scale famine and collapse. Fletcher warned that more than 7.5 million people will require food assistance this year, with emergency levels of food insecurity expected across all ten of the country's states during the lean season running through late July, while humanitarian compounds have been looted and nutrition centres destroyed near Akobo in Jonglei State, leaving over 140,000 people in dire need. The crisis is being driven by intensifying clashes between government forces and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army in Opposition, which have displaced more than 280,000 civilians since late January, compounded by expected flooding that risks cutting off further communities.