Millions of Sudanese face the specter of famine and food insecurity
According to Agence France-Presse, half of this number already experienced severe food insecurity to a significant extent last year, before the conflict erupted between the army and the Rapid Support Forces.
Severe Hunger
In a further escalation of the already catastrophic humanitarian situation, the United Nations warned on Wednesday that “6.3 million people are just one step away from famine,” with the fighting destroying vital infrastructure, severely disrupting agriculture, and hindering the delivery of life-saving assistance.
It added that more than half of the population faces “acute hunger” in West Darfur, which witnessed some of the worst clashes, including targeting civilians due to their ethnic affiliation and communal sexual violence. The latest figures from the International Organization for Migration show that over three million people have been internally displaced, with nearly a million others crossing Sudan’s borders.
Agence France-Presse noted that the International Organization for Migration figures show that more than two million people fled Khartoum alone – 40% of its estimated population before the war – and for months, civilians have been demanding an end to airstrikes, artillery shelling, and gunfire that turned cities, including the capital, into war zones.
Mutual Accusations
The news agency added: No humanitarian corridors have been established despite promises by warring parties, preventing relief groups from increasingly delivering life-saving aid. The deadly battles continued in cities and the capital that were ravaged by war on Wednesday, as an army spokesperson announced in a televised speech that “dozens of rebel militias” were “killed and injured” in an airstrike in South Khartoum.
The Rapid Support Forces accused the army of “conspiring” with the former regime of Omar al-Bashir, who was ousted from power long ago in 2019 after popular protests. The delicate transition to civilian rule veered off track through a coup in 2021 led by al-Burhan when the two generals clashed in a bitter power struggle, with Daglo accusing al-Burhan’s government of starting the war to bring back al-Bashir’s banned National Congress Party (NCP) to power.
Reporters Without Borders said that the army “covers up” for the activities of National Congress Party officials across the country, especially in eastern Sudan, and warned of a “civil war.” It accused the army of protecting the elements of the old guard who escaped from prison early in the war “with the explicit aim of regaining control of our country’s reins.”
