In-Sakhan initially reported to International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) that the camp's population was at least 200,000 and aid agencies provided food and water for 180,000 people until December 1979 when aid workers heard that much of the food was being hoarded by the warlord.UNICEF Monitoring Report, 6 March 1980. At this time the situation on the border was still too chaotic to do a proper census or to challenge In-Sakhan.
