Cairo, Feb 5 (AP) 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 only months after the group said people in Darfur's major city of el-Fasher were enduring famine.
El-Fasher was at the time overrun by the Sudanese paramilitary forces that had besieged the city for 18 months.
Since April 2023, war has gripped much of Sudan after a power struggle erupted between the 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 on Thursday by the paramilitary forces on a military hospital killed 22 people, including the hospital's medical director and another three medical staff members.
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.
The IPS report said famine has now been detected in the towns of Umm Baru and Kernoi in Darfur. In November, the group said el-Fasher was enduring famine and also the city of Kadugli in South Kordofan. At the time it also said 20 other areas across Sudan were at risk of famine. (AP) GSP