WFP suspends food distribution in Sudan's Zamzam Refugee Camp due to intensified clashes

By Muhammet Ikbal Arslan

GENEVA (AA) – The World Food Program (WFP) has suspended food distribution in Sudan's Zamzam Refugee Camp due to intensified clashes between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Intense fighting in Zamzam camp, North Darfur region, has forced the WFP to temporarily halt the distribution of life-saving food and nutrition assistance to displaced people, said Leni Kinzli, spokesperson for WFP Sudan, during a weekly press briefing at the UN Geneva Office via video link on Friday.

She warned that if no immediate assistance is provided, thousands of desperate families in Zamzam will starve in the coming weeks.

Kinzli emphasized the importance of resuming the safe and timely delivery of life-saving aid, saying: "For that, the fighting must stop, and humanitarian organizations must be granted security guarantees."

Two million people in 27 locations across Sudan are currently experiencing or on the verge of famine, she warned.

The Sudanese army and RSF have been fighting a war since mid-April 2023 that has killed more than 20,000 people and displaced 14 million, according to the UN and local authorities. Research from US universities, however, estimates the death toll at around 130,000.

Calls by the international community and the UN for an end to the war are mounting, with warnings of an impending humanitarian catastrophe as millions face famine and death due to food shortages. The conflict has spread to 13 of Sudan’s 18 states.