Famine is tightening its hold on Sudan’s war-battered western Darfur, U.N.-backed food security experts warned Thursday, as a nearly three-year conflict continues to starve communities, uproot millions and choke off humanitarian aid.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a global hunger monitoring body, said famine-level acute malnutrition has now been recorded in the North Darfur towns of Umm Baru and Kernoi, areas destabilized by intense fighting and mass displacement near the Chad border.
While the IPC stopped short of declaring a full famine, it said key nutrition thresholds have been surpassed, signaling a sharp rise in the risk of excess deaths.
“These alarming rates raise serious concern that neighboring areas may already be experiencing similarly catastrophic conditions,” the IPC said.
Sudan has been engulfed in war since April 2023, when a power struggle between the national army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) exploded into open conflict.
Tens of thousands are believed to have been killed, more than 14 million people have been forced from their homes, and over 21 million, nearly half the population, now face acute food insecurity, according to the United Nations.
The humanitarian crisis has been particularly severe in Darfur, where the RSF’s capture of the regional capital El-Fasher last October marked a turning point.
Once the army’s last major stronghold in the region, the city fell after an 18-month siege marked by bombardment and starvation.
The takeover triggered an exodus of at least 127,000 civilians into already fragile towns, overwhelming local resources and accelerating hunger.
The IPC said that displacement from El-Fasher has driven malnutrition rates sharply higher in surrounding areas.
In Umm Baru, nearly 53% of children aged 6 months to 5 years are acutely malnourished, almost double the famine threshold.
In Kernoi, the figure stands at 32%. Access to treatment remains critically limited: only a quarter of malnourished children in Kernoi are enrolled in nutrition programs, while services in Umm Baru are barely functioning.
The warning comes nearly three months after the IPC confirmed famine in El-Fasher and in Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan, some 800 kilometers to the east.
Kadugli endured a prolonged RSF siege before Sudanese forces broke the blockade this week.
Nearby Dilling, also recently relieved, is believed to be facing similar conditions, though insecurity and lack of access have prevented formal verification.
Across Darfur and neighboring Kordofan, at least 20 additional areas are now at risk of famine, the IPC said, as fighting continues to erode food production, health care, water systems and supply routes.
About 88,000 people have been displaced in Kordofan alone since October.
Violence has not spared medical facilities.
On Thursday, a paramilitary attack on a military hospital in Kouik, South Kordofan, killed at least 22 people, including the hospital’s director and three medical staff, according to the Sudan Doctors’ Network.
Separate drone strikes earlier this week hit medical centers in Kadugli, killing civilians, including children.
The network said repeated attacks have rendered several hospitals inoperable.
Both the army and the RSF have been accused of widespread atrocities, including mass killings, sexual violence and abductions.
On Thursday, Britain imposed sanctions on six individuals, senior figures from both sides, accused of fueling the violence through direct abuses or by supplying mercenaries and weapons.
“Through these sanctions, we will seek to dismantle the war machine of those who perpetrate or profit from the brutal violence in Sudan,” British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said.
International efforts to scale up aid have gained momentum but remain dwarfed by the scale of need.
This week, the United States and the United Nations launched a new Sudan Humanitarian Fund, backed by $700 million in initial pledges from the United Arab Emirates and Washington.
The U.S. said it would contribute $200 million, while the UAE pledged $500 million.
Other donors, including Saudi Arabia, signaled support without announcing figures.
The IPC stressed that without a sustained ceasefire and unrestricted humanitarian access, conditions are likely to worsen rapidly.
“Prolonged conflict and displacement are pushing more communities toward starvation,” the group said. “Immediate action is critical to avert further destitution and loss of life.”
