The World Food Programme (WFP) has suspended vital food aid operations in and around the Zamzam displacement camp in Sudan’s North Darfur region due to escalating violence, the agency announced Wednesday.
The camp, already facing famine conditions, is now cut off from crucial life-saving assistance.
“Intense fighting in Zamzam camp… has forced” WFP “to temporarily pause the distribution of life-saving food and nutrition assistance,” the agency said in a statement.
The decision follows the evacuation of WFP’s partner staff due to heightened insecurity over the past two weeks.
The Zamzam camp, home to over half a million displaced people, has seen intensified clashes between the General Abdel Fattah al Burhan guided troops and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) this month.
“Without immediate assistance, thousands of desperate families in Zamzam could starve in the coming weeks,” warned Laurent Bukera, WFP’s regional director for Eastern Africa.
Bukera called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and security guarantees for humanitarian organizations to resume aid deliveries.
Famine was first declared in Zamzam in August and has since spread to other displacement camps in the region.
A UN-backed assessment predicts the famine will expand to five more areas, including the North Darfur capital of El-Fasher, by May.
Before the recent surge in violence, North Darfur already hosted 1.7 million displaced people, with two million civilians facing extreme food insecurity.
Zamzam, established in 2004, has become a refuge for waves of displaced Sudanese during the ongoing conflict.