US warns of the most catastrophic famine for four decades

Sudan is facing a famine that could become worse than any the world has seen since Ethiopia 40 years ago, US officials have warned, as aid deliveries continue to be blocked by the warring armies but arms supplies to both sides continue to flow in.

- Julian Borger

With much of the world's attention focused on Gaza, the scene of another human-made famine, Sudan is already the worst humanitarian crisis in the world and is slipping towards a disaster of historic proportions, with far less media coverage and global concern. A UN humanitarian appeal for the country has received only 16% of the funds it needs.

"We need the world to wake up to the catastrophe happening before our eyes," Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US ambassador to the UN, told reporters.

She was speaking as El Fasher, the capital of the North Darfur region and a former humanitarian hub, faced its second month under siege by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). A paramilitary group, the RSF has been fighting the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) since April 2023, when a power struggle between two rival generals, the SAF's Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the country's de facto ruler, and the RSF's Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, escalated into a conflict that has split the country. The civil war has killed over 14,000 people and forced 10 million to flee their homes.