Malnutrition has killed at least 63 people, mostly women and children, in just one week in Sudan's besieged city of Al Fasher, a senior health official has said, as fighting between the army and rival paramilitaries intensifies in the western region.
The official from North Darfur's health ministry, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity on Sunday, said the death toll 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, Al Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, has been under siege by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has been battling Sudan's 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.
A major RSF offensive on the nearby Zamzam displacement camp in April forced tens of thousands of people to flee again, with many of them now sheltering inside Al Fasher.
Community kitchens, once a lifeline, have largely shut down due to a lack of supplies. Some families are reported to be surviving on animal fodder or food waste.
‘At risk of starvation’
At the largest community kitchen in the city, around 1,700 people receive the traditional Sudanese dish aseeda, a porridge made from millet or sorghum flour, every morning, but portions have shrunk dramatically.
He added that a plate once shared by three people is now eaten by seven.
Children and women arriving at the kitchen show clear signs of malnutrition, including swollen bellies and sunken eyes, Youssef said.
According to UN figures, nearly 40 percent of children under five in Al Fasher are now acutely malnourished, with 11 percent suffering from severe acute malnutrition.
Famine was declared a year ago in the displacement camps surrounding Al Fasher, and the UN estimated it would take hold in the city itself by last May. A lack of data has prevented an official famine declaration.
The UN has repeatedly warned of the plight of an estimated one million people trapped in Al Fasher and its surrounding camps, who are virtually cut off from aid and basic services.
The World Food Programme said this week that thousands of families in Al Fasher are "at risk of starvation".
