Malnutrition has claimed the lives of at least 63 people, mostly women and children, in one week in Sudan's besieged city of El-Fasher, a health official said on Sunday.

The official, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, said the figure only included those who managed to reach hospitals, adding that many families buried their dead without seeking medical help due to poor security conditions and a lack of transportation.

Since May last year, El-Fasher has been under siege by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has been at war with Sudan's regular army since April 2023.

The city remains the last major Darfur urban centre in army control and has recently come under renewed attack by the RSF after the group withdrew from Sudan's capital Khartoum earlier this year.

Displacement and hunger crisis

A major RSF offensive on the nearby Zamzam displacement camp in April forced tens of thousands of people to flee again – many of them now sheltering inside El-Fasher.

Community kitchens – once a lifeline – have largely shut down due to a lack of supplies.

Nearly 40% of children under five in El-Fasher are now acutely malnourished, with 11% suffering from severe acute malnutrition, according to UN figures.

The rainy season, which peaks in August, is further complicating efforts to reach the city. Roads are rapidly deteriorating, making aid deliveries difficult if not impossible.

The war, now in its third year, has killed thousands of people, displaced millions and created what the United Nations describes as the world's largest displacement and hunger crises.