DUBAI: A militant group controlling Sudan’s Nuba Mountains and parts of Blue Nile state said on Wednesday that the local population was experiencing a hunger catastrophe.
The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) said that 20 percent of families were suffering severe food shortages, while 30 percent of children suffered from malnutrition. An Arabic version of the statement described the situation as a famine.
It said the parties involved in Sudan’s civil war and a poor harvest were to blame for the crisis.
The situation in the two regions was “the most severe compared to other states,” the SPLM-N said. “The little foodstock that the host community has been able to produce is being shared and rapidly depleted.”
Some 3.9 million people live in the two territories under SPLM-N control, a number that swelled after people from other parts of the country were displaced by the fighting.
The ongoing war between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has plunged half the population of about 50 million into food insecurity and created the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.
Across the country, some 756,000 people face catastrophic hunger, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a global hunger monitor, said in June.
Both the army and the RSF are accused of blocking aid from reaching targeted areas, and of damaging the infrastructure and markets needed for food production and delivery.
The SPLM-N accused the army-aligned government in Port Sudan of selling aid allocated for the area, while it said the RSF was closing markets.
“Civilian villages in both regions were also targeted through a scorched earth policy, burning crops and homes, displacing residents to camps, and blocking roads,” it said.
The army and RSF did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Sudan’s SPLM-N rebel group declares famine in its territory
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Sudan’s SPLM-N rebel group declares famine in its territory
- 20 percent of families were suffering severe food shortages, while 30 percent of children suffered from malnutrition
- The situation in the two regions was “the most severe compared to other states,” the SPLM-N said
Syrian Democratic Forces withdraws from east of Aleppo
RIYADH: Syrian Democratic Forces have withdrawn from positions east of Aleppo, according to SDF head Mazloum Abdi.
He announced Friday that SDF will withdraw from east of Aleppo at 7 a.m. local time on Saturday and redeploy them to areas east of the Euphrates, citing calls from friendly countries and mediators.
Hours earlier, a US military designation had visited Deir Hafer and met with SDF officials in an apparent attempt to tamp down tensions.
The US has good relations with both sides and has urged calm. A spokesperson for the US military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Shortly before Abdi’s announcement, interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa had announced issuance of a decree strengthening Kurdish rights.
A wave of displacement
Earlier in the day, hundreds of people carrying their belongings arrived in government-held areas in northern Syria ahead of the anticipated offensive by Syrian troops on territory held by Kurdish-led fighters.
Many of the civilians who fled were seen using side roads to reach government-held areas because the main highway was blocked at a checkpoint in the town of Deir Hafer controlled by the SDF.
The Syrian army said late Wednesday that civilians would be able to evacuate through the “humanitarian corridor” from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday and then extended the evacuation period another day, saying the SDF had stopped civilians from leaving.
There had been limited exchanges of fire between the two sides in the area before that.
Men, women and children arrived on the government side of the line in cars and pickup trucks that were packed with bags of clothes, mattresses and other belongings. They were met by local officials who directed them to shelters.
* with input from Reuters, AP
