Famine declared in 2 war-torn Sudanese regions

Report finds 375,000 people in Darfur and Kordofan are affected as of September.

- BY SAMY MAGDY

DISPLACED Sudanese at a camp in Tawila. One aid group reported severe malnutrition among new arrivals.

Two regions of war-torn Sudan are enduring a famine that is at risk of spreading to other areas of the sprawling northeastern African country, where paramilitary fighters have been battling the military for power for more than two years, a global hunger monitoring group said.

Famine is happening in El Fasher, a major city in the western region of Darfur, and the town of Kadugli, in South Kordofan province in the south, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, said in a new report. It is also threatening 20 other areas in Darfur and central Sudan's Kordofan region, where fighting has intensified in recent months, according to the IPC, the leading international authority on hunger crises.

"Famine and the risk of famine are urgent priorities, but they are only the most severe symptoms of a far broader and deepening crisis affecting millions across Sudan," the IPC wrote in its report.

"This is a man-made emergency, and all steps needed to prevent further catastrophe are clear."

The Rapid Support Forces besieged El Fasher for 18 months, cutting off much of the food and other supplies to tens of thousands of people.

Last week, the paramilitary group seized the city, which had been the military’s last major holding in Darfur, and reportedly unleashed attacks that killed hundreds of civilians, though the scope of violence is unclear because communications are poor.

The RSF has also besieged Kadugli for months, with tens of thousands of people trapped as the group tries to seize more territory from the Sudanese military.