"We have seen hardly any little children under five. Lots of them had already died. A whole hill has been covered with fresh graves since September."

The MSF said the severe malnutrition rate among the children was 35%, and significant numbers of adults were also malnourished.

Emergency operation

The agency said it started an emergency operation on Thursday by sending two trucks of food and medical emergency equipment which would be distributed immediately amongst the children.

The MSF also said a therapeutic feeding centre and health centre would be opened to treat the most severely malnourished and ill.

We have seen hardly any little children under five. Lots of them had already died

MSF

The MSF said the civilians had been moved from their homes between September and March by Angolan government forces, where they had no access to their farmland or to food aid.

It said Chipindo was the fourth place in need of immediate aid since the agency has been able to send its missions to Angola's provinces at the beginning of February.

This followed a ceasefire between the government forces and the rebel Unita movement, bringing to an end 27 years of civil war which claimed the lives of at least 500,000 people.