Famine conditions are expanding across Sudan’s Darfur region, United Nations-backed experts warned on Thursday, as acute malnutrition reaches catastrophic levels amid the country’s ongoing civil war.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said famine thresholds for acute child malnutrition have been exceeded in Um Baru and Kernoi, two contested areas in North Darfur, highlighting a deepening humanitarian crisis driven by conflict between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese army.
Although the alert does not amount to a formal famine declaration, the IPC said the data shows life-threatening hunger and a growing risk of excess deaths.
In Um Baru, 53 percent of children under five are acutely malnourished—nearly double the famine threshold—while almost one-third of children in Kernoi are suffering from acute malnutrition, the report said.
“These alarming rates raise serious concern that neighbouring areas may also be experiencing catastrophic food insecurity,” the IPC warned.
The alert comes nearly three months after the IPC confirmed famine conditions in el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, and Kadugli in South Kordofan. At that time, experts said at least 20 additional areas in Darfur and Kordofan were at risk of famine.
El-Fasher fell to the RSF in October following months of siege, bombardment, and starvation, triggering the displacement of at least 127,000 people, according to the United Nations. Many fled to Um Baru and Kernoi, towns near the Chad border that were already struggling with limited food and health services.
“The influx of displaced people facing hunger into already fragile areas is likely to sharply increase the number of people experiencing catastrophic food insecurity,” the IPC said.
Since April 2023, Sudan has been locked in a devastating war that has effectively split the country, with the army controlling much of the north, east, and centre, and the RSF dominating Darfur and parts of the south.
Fighting has recently intensified in Kordofan, where the Sudanese military has made limited advances. On Thursday, at least 22 people were killed in an RSF attack on Al-Kuweik Hospital in South Kordofan, according to the Sudan Doctors Network, which said the strike killed the hospital’s director and other medical staff.
The group described the targeting of health facilities as a war crime and said repeated attacks have left several hospitals inoperable, worsening the humanitarian emergency.
The conflict, now nearing its third year, has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced nearly 11 million, and pushed multiple regions into famine. The UN estimates that more than 21 million Sudanese—nearly half the population—are facing acute food insecurity, making Sudan one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
