IPC Warns Famine Spread in Darfur After RSF Hospital Attack

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification said in an alert Thursday that acute malnutrition reached famine-level thresholds in the North Darfur towns of Umm Baru and Kernoi, according to the IPC.

Since April 2023, fighting between the Sudanese military and the Rapid Support Forces has triggered what the United Nations calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with the U.N. estimating more than 40,000 killed and over 14 million forced from their homes.

The Sudan Doctors' Network said an RSF attack on Al-Kuweik military hospital in Kouik, South Kordofan, killed 22 people including the hospital’s medical director and three staff and wounded eight, calling the strike part of a series that left several hospitals inoperable.

The IPC said its findings raise the number of famine-affected locations in Sudan to nine and reported that 53% of children under five in Umm Baru and 32% in Kernoi suffer acute malnutrition, though it said lack of mortality and access data prevents full famine confirmation.

The Rome-based IPC urged an immediate, sustained ceasefire and warned that restricted access and insufficient mortality data are hampering humanitarian response and could lead to additional areas crossing famine thresholds.