The United Nations Friday reached areas of Nigeria previously cut off from aid by Boko Haram violence and said that tens of thousands of children in the country's northeast will die of malnutrition this year unless they receive treatment soon. Nigeria's army over the last year, aided by troops from neighboring countries, recaptured most of the territory that was lost to the militant group, which has waged a seven-year insurgency aimed at creating a Daesh state in the northeast. "Improving security has enabled humanitarians to access areas that were previously cut off," Munir Safieldin, U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Nigeria, said in a statement. "The conditions we are seeing there are devastating." The conflict also has pushed food insecurity and malnutrition to emergency levels in northeast Nigeria, according to the Nigerian government. Several U.N. agencies said in a joint statement that more than half a million people need urgent food aid, as the violence has hit farming, disrupted markets, and driven up food prices.
