CAIRO: The Sudanese government rejected on Sunday a report backed by the United Nations which determined that famine had spread to five areas of the war-torn country.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) review, which UN agencies use, said last week that the war between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces had created famine conditions for 638,000 people, with a further 8.1 million on the brink of mass starvation.
The army-aligned government “categorically rejects the IPC’s description of the situation in Sudan as a famine,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The statement called the report “essentially speculative” and accused the IPC of procedural and transparency failings.
They said the team did not have access to updated field data and had not consulted with the government’s technical team on the final version before publication.
The IPC did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment.
The Sudanese government, loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, has been based in the Red Sea city of Port Sudan since the capital Khartoum became a warzone in April 2023.
It has repeatedly been accused of stonewalling international efforts to assess the food security situation in the war-torn country.
The authorities have also been accused of creating bureaucratic hurdles to humanitarian work and blocking visas for foreign teams.
The International Rescue Committee said the army was “leveraging its status as the internationally recognized government (and blocking) the UN and other agencies from reaching RSF-controlled areas.”
Both the army and the RSF have been accused of using starvation as a weapon of war.
The war in Sudan has killed tens of thousands of people and uprooted over 12 million people, including millions who face dire food insecurity in army-controlled areas.
Across the country, more than 24.6 million people — around half the population — face high levels of acute food insecurity.
Sudan government rejects UN-backed famine declaration
https://arab.news/mvd48
Sudan government rejects UN-backed famine declaration
- War between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces had created famine conditions
- Both the Sudanese army and the RSF have been accused of using starvation as a weapon of war
Israeli forces open fire on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon, no injuries reported
- Lebanese military said in a statement that Israeli violations of its sovereignty caused instability within the country and hindered its own forces from deploying in the south
JERUSALEM: Israeli military forces opened fire on United Nations peacekeepers in southern Lebanon on Sunday, in an incident the UN peacekeeping mission described as a serious violation.
None of the UN forces were reported wounded.
Israeli soldiers had opened fire on two suspects in the El Hamames area near the Israeli border, only later realizing that they were UN peacekeepers, the military said in a statement.
The military said the peacekeepers were misidentified due to poor weather conditions. The incident was under review, it said.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said the Israeli forces had fired from a Merkava tank positioned inside Lebanese territory toward the peacekeepers, who were on foot. Heavy machine gun fire landed five meters from the peacekeepers, who were forced to seek shelter, it said.
The Israeli tank withdrew after peacekeepers contacted the Israeli military through official channels, UNIFIL said.
UNIFIL called the incident a “serious violation” of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which, among other provisions, states that no armed forces should be operating in southern Lebanon except the UN peacekeepers and the Lebanese military.
The Lebanese military said in a statement that Israeli violations of its sovereignty caused instability within the country and hindered its own forces from deploying in the south.
The Israeli military occupies five posts within Lebanon and frequently carries out airstrikes in the country’s south that it says are targeting Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire last year that required the Lebanese militant group not to have any weapons in the south and for Israeli forces to fully withdraw from Lebanon.
Israel accuses Hezbollah of trying to rearm, while Lebanon’s government accuses Israel of violating the agreement by not withdrawing and continuing to carry out airstrikes.
