El fasher: The World Food Programme (WFP) has warned of an imminent famine threatening the residents of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State in western Sudan, which has been under siege for months by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

According to Qatar News Agency, WFP Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa Erik Perdison stated that everyone in El Fasher is facing a daily ordeal to survive, explaining that resilience has completely collapsed after more than two years of war.

The UN official warned that lives will be lost if immediate and sustained access to essential resources is not secured, noting that the city has been deprived of humanitarian aid since the RSF imposed a siege in May 2024, nearly a year after famine was declared in the nearby Zamzam camp.

Perdison explained that prices of basic commodities in the city have risen to unprecedented levels, pointing out that the prices of sorghum and wheat, used to prepare bread and porridge, have increased by 460%, while markets appear nearly empty and most communal kitchens have shut down.

He confirmed that malnutrition has reached alarming levels among children, with around 40% of children under the age of five suffering from acute malnutrition, including 11% with severe malnutrition. Some families have resorted to consuming animal feed or waste to survive.

The region has witnessed a military escalation since the Sudanese army regained control of Khartoum last March, with RSF intensifying its attacks on El Fasher and the surrounding camps.

In April, an attack on Zamzam camp forced thousands of civilians fleeing violence to head toward the city, which remains the only capital in Darfur outside RSF control.