Experts warn famine conditions spreading in Sudan's Darfur region

A global hunger monitoring group says famine is spreading in Sudan’s war-torn North Darfur state,  impacting two more towns there.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) initiative says the latest data shows "thresholds for acute malnutrition have now been surpassed" in Um Baru and Kernoi, near the border with Chad.

Its experts say the famine spread after the fall of the state capital, el-Fasher, to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in October last year.

This, the alert published on Thursday says, led to a "massive displacement of residents and displaced persons into surrounding areas".

"The movement of tens of thousands of people facing hunger and malnutrition into already fragile areas of North Darfur is likely to sharply increase the number of people facing catastrophic food insecurity," they say.

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

In Um Baru, the rate of acutely malnourished children aged under five was nearly double the famine threshold with 53 per cent affected, while nearly a third of children in Kernoi are suffering from acute malnutrition.

The UN-backed group's alert comes nearly three months after it confirmed famine conditions in el-Fasher and the capital of South Kordofan, about 800 kilometres to the east.

Kadugli endured a punishing RSF siege since shortly after the start of the civil war in April 2023, before the army lifted the blockade this week.

IPC experts say 20 more areas in Sudan's Darfur and neighbouring Kordofan are at risk of famine.

The latest United Nations figures show that fighting in Kordofan - now a key battleground - has displaced about 88,000 people since October.

It says more than 21 million people across Sudan - almost half of the population - are now facing acute food insecurity, with two-thirds of the population in urgent need of assistance.