Famine spreads to more towns in Sudan's Darfur region, hunger experts warn as war rages on

CAIRO — Famine is spreading in war-torn Sudan's western Darfur region and has now engulfed two more towns there, a global hunger monitoring group said Thursday. The announcement came after the group said last year that people in Darfur's major city of el-Fasher, overrun by the paramilitary forces after an 18-month siege, were enduring famine. Since April 2023, war has gripped much of Sudan after a power struggle erupted between the East African country's military and the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The conflict has triggered what the United Nations calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis. The report on the spread of famine by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, came as an attack Thursday by the RSF on a military hospital in southern Sudan killed 22 people, including the hospital's medical director and another three members of the medical staff. The attack, in the town of Kouik in South Kordofan province, also left eight people wounded, the Sudan Doctors' Network, a group of medical professionals tracking the war said. It was not immediately clear how many of the casualties were civilians. In a statement, the network said the attack was "not an isolated incident, but rather part of a series of attacks that have plagued South Kordofan" and have left "several hospitals inoperable." The U.N. estimates that over 40,000 people have been killed in the war in Sudan, but aid agencies consider that the true number could be many times higher. Over 14 million people have been forced to flee their homes. In Umm Baru, nearly 53% of children aged between 6 months and nearly 5 years suffered from acute malnutrition, while 32% of children in Kernoi face the same ordeal. The fall of el-Fasher in October 2025 to the RSF set off an exodus of people to nearby towns, straining the resources of neighboring communities and driving up food insecurity rates, the report said. With this report, the total number of famine-stricken areas in Sudan rises to nine. In 2024, famine had struck five other areas in North Darfur and also Sudan's Nuba Mountains region. The IPC report also warned that more people might face extreme hunger in Kordofan, where the conflict has disrupted food production and supply lines in besieged towns and isolated areas. On Tuesday, the Sudanese military announced that it had opened a crucial road between Dilling and Kadugli, which had been under siege by the RSF since the start of the war. The RSF launched a drone attack Tuesday that hit a medical center in Kadugli, killing 15 people including seven children. This week, the United States and the U.N. said they are seeking to rally international support for humanitarian aid to Sudan, kicking off a new Sudan Humanitarian Fund with $700 million in contributions from the United Arab Emirates and the U.S.