Famine spreading in Darfur

Port Sudan

Famine is spreading in Sudan's western Darfur region, UN-backed experts warned on Thursday, as a grinding war between the army and paramilitary forces has left millions hungry, displaced and cut off from aid.

Since April 2023, the conflict between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has killed tens of thousands, displaced nearly 11 million and triggered one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

In an alert issued by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), global food security experts said that "famine thresholds for acute malnutrition have now been surpassed" in North Darfur's contested areas of Um Baru and Kernoi, near the border with Chad.

"These alarming rates suggest an increased risk of excess mortality and raise concern that nearby areas may be experiencing similar catastrophic conditions," the IPC experts said.

They added that the spread of famine came as the paramilitary takeover of North Darfur capital El-Fasher led to "massive displacement" of civilians into surrounding areas, "straining the resources" of local communities and "driving up acute food insecurity and malnutrition".

El-Fasher, long the Sudanese army's final stronghold in western Darfur, fell to the RSF last October after 18 months of bombardment and starvation.