Famine is spreading in two parts of Sudan, the world’s top hunger authority has said

Cairo (AP) – Plamini has spread to two regions of War-tonD Sudan, including the main city in Darfur where it has been occupied for the past week, said the global hunger monitoring group, marking the latest tragedy in the war that is creating the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.

The Integrated Food Security Division, or IPC, said famine has been reported in Darfur City of El-Fasher and Kadugli City in South Kordofan province. Twenty other areas in Darfur and Kordofan, where fighting has taken place in recent months, are also at risk of famine, according to the IPC report.

El-Fasher was besieged by rapid-relief forces for 18 months, cutting off much of the food and other supplies from the tens of thousands of people inside. Last week, the fighters of the RSF seized the village, it is reported that they are igniting a wave of killings and attacks on its people that have killed hundreds, but the extent of the violence is still unclear, as well as the connection to the poor region.

Kadugli, too, had been under siege by the RSF for months with tens of thousands of people trapped inside, as the encirclement group tried to seize another, Sudanese military stronghold.

Sudan has been torn apart since April 2023 by a power struggle between the military and the RSF. More than 40,000 people have been killed, according to UN figures, but AID groups say that is an underestimate and the real number could be much higher. The war uprooted more than 14 million people from their homes, disease broke out and parts of the country went into famine.

According to the latest report, the second in less than a year, the IPC said hunger – or the IPC Phaser The IPC is considered the leading international authority on hunger.

In total, some 375,000 people have been driven from starvation in Darfur and Kordofan since September, the report said. Another 6.3 million people across the country are in the IPC category 4, which means they face the worst levels of hunger, it said.

Keep the children saying that in September the food ran out in Kadugli, when the fighting increased. It said that tens of thousands were driven from their homes, many fled to other parts of the city due to roadblocks preventing escape.

FAMINE, or IPC Phase 5, is determined in areas with at least one in five people or households with malnutrition and high mortality at the end of the population, or four children under 5,000.

The IPC has confirmed only a few famines in the past, most recently in northern Gaza earlier this year during Israel’s campaign against Hamas. Other locations were in Somalia in 2011, and in South Sudan in 2017 and 2020, and last year in parts of Sudan’s Darfur Region.

Another town of Kordocaban, which is a draw, is reported to have found similar conditions to Kadugli, but the IPC did not declare a famine due to a lack of information, the report said. Since the forces seized the capital of Khartoum earlier this year, the RSF has turned its focus to ending its hold on the West Darfur region and taking the Kordofans to land lines.

The report warned that some villages near El-Fasher in Darfur, including Tawila, have melted and Tawisha, are at risk of starvation.

These three areas have received the largest share of people forced to flee El-Fasher since the capture of the city, according to reports and videos of the attacks, according to the testimony of AID Workers. The dead included at least 460 who died in hospital, according to the World Health Organization.

Nationwide, the IPC said 21 million people, or 45% of the population, faced severe food insecurity as of September, a 6% drop from the previous report covering the period from December 2024 to May this year.

The drop was attributed to reduced conflict and improved access to aid in Khartoum, Gezira Province in the Eastern Province and Setenar Eastern Province. The army retained control of Khartoum and Gezira earlier this year, allowing more than a million people who fled to return home.

However, the report warned that progress remains given that the war continues “to have a significant impact on the economy, delivery of services and productive infrastructure.”

The IPC called the fire as the only way it can “prevent further failures and help contain high levels of acute food insecurity and malnutrition.”

The IPC had earlier declared famine in five areas of Sudan. Three of them sprouted refugee camps near El-Fasher as the RSF forces advanced, with many residents fleeing to El-Fasher itself or nearby towns. Other areas are in parts of South and West Kordofan provinces that have fallen into the hands of the RSF.

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AP Collerent Sam Mednick in Rome contributed to this report.