Hospital attack kills 22 as famine threatens more areas in War-torn Darfur

Famine is threatening more towns in Sudan’s western Darfur region , a global hunger monitoring group warned on Thursday, as an attack by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on a military hospital in southern Sudan killed at least 22 people , including the hospital director and medical staff.

Sudan has been gripped by war since April 2023 , following a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF . The conflict has triggered what the United Nations calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis , marked by mass killings, forced displacement and the collapse of health and food systems.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said famine-level malnutrition has been recorded in the towns of Umm Baru and Kernoi in North Darfur , though it stopped short of formally declaring famine due to limited access and insufficient mortality data.

Human rights groups say the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied militias have carried out violence that bears the hallmarks of genocide in Darfur , targeting mainly non-Arab communities such as the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa through executions and the systematic burning of villages. Darfur is ethnically diverse, with Arab and non-Arab groups who have lived in the region for centuries, but the conflict has deepened divisions rooted in competition over land and political power. Satellite imagery has revealed bodies lying in open areas and large pools of blood visible from space , underscoring the scale and brutality of the atrocities.

Last year, famine was confirmed in parts of el-Fasher , Darfur’s main city, after an 18-month siege cut off food supplies and humanitarian aid. Its fall in October 2025 forced tens of thousands to flee to nearby towns, pushing already fragile communities toward starvation, the IPC said.

In Umm Baru , nearly 53 percent of children under five suffer from acute malnutrition far above the famine threshold of 30 percent. In Kernoi , the rate stands at 32 percent . The IPC warned that these levels indicate a high risk of excess mortality and that surrounding areas may face similar conditions.

Violence against medical facilities continues to rise. On Thursday, an RSF attack on a military hospital in Kouik, South Kordofan , killed 22 people and wounded at least eight others, according to the Sudan Doctors’ Network , which said several hospitals in the region are now inoperable.

The United Nations estimates more than 40,000 people have been killed since the war began, though aid agencies believe the real toll may be far higher. More than 14 million people have been displaced .

The IPC has confirmed famine in seven areas of Sudan , including parts of North Darfur and the Nuba Mountains . It warned that hunger will worsen in Kordofan , where fighting has disrupted farming, markets and supply routes.

“An immediate and sustained ceasefire is critical to prevent further starvation and death,” the IPC said.

The United States and the United Nations have launched a new Sudan Humanitarian Fund, securing USD 700 million in initial pledges from the UAE and the US, with further contributions expected from Saudi Arabia and other donors.

Aid agencies warn that Darfur is once again facing conditions of mass death , echoing the genocide of the early 2000s now compounded by war, siege and famine .