War pushes Sudan to brink of first famine in decades

Sudan is on the verge of a famine in parts of the capital city Khartoum and the central Darfur region due to the conflict between two rival military factions, the World Food Programme said.

Millions of people are at risk of starvation amid the worst conditions since at least 2003. A nine-month war between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has cut off huge swaths of the North African nation to aid groups and displaced hundreds of thousands of farmers, the group said, devastating this year’s harvest.

“In locations such as central Darfur and certain parts of Khartoum, we have received reports of people dying either of malnutrition or starvation,” Eddie Rowe, WFP country director for Sudan, said in an interview from Port Sudan.