Famine is spreading in North Darfur in western Sudan, United Nations-backed monitors said Thursday.

Millions of people in Sudan have been facing malnutrition since a civil war began in April 2023.

The conflict between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced nearly 11 million, triggering what has been described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

What did the IPC report say?

In a report published on Thursday, the UN's Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), global food security experts said "famine thresholds for acute malnutrition have now been surpassed" in Um Baru and Kernoi, contested areas near the Chad border.

The IPC, which is used by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said malnutrition in Um Baru was nearly double the famine threshold.

"These alarming rates suggest an increased risk of excess mortality and raise concern that nearby areas may be experiencing similar catastrophic conditions," the IPC report said.

Millions in need of aid are cut off

Humanitarian access across the war-torn country remains severely restricted, the monitors also said.

"The remaining population in el-Fasher town is largely inaccessible, meanwhile escalating conflict along the Sudan-Chad border threatens to compromise the essential supply route from Chad, cutting off millions in need of assistance across Greater Darfur," it said.

The famine has worsened since the RSF takeover of el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, and the "massive displacement" of civilians which was "driving up acute food insecurity and malnutrition," the report said.

El-Fasher, once the army's last stronghold in western Darfur, fell to the paramilitary group in October after an 18-month siege.

After the city fell, reports of mass killings, abductions and rape began to emerge. The UN says at least 127,000 people fled to towns in the area.

Famine also spreading to Kordofan

Famine conditions, which the IPC confirmed in El-Fasher and South Kordofan capital Kadugli nearly three months ago, are at risk of spreading to 20 more areas in Darfur and Kordofan, the report said.

Kordofan has become a key battleground in the fighting between the RSF and the army. Around 88,000 people have been displaced since October, the UN says.

The capital South Kordofan, Kadugli, has been under an RSF siege for much of the war.

In the town of Kouik in South Kordofan, an RSF attack on a hospital on Thursday killed 22 people and wounded eight others, according to the Sudan Doctors' Network.

The group said the strike was "part of a series of attacks that have plagued" the state and which have left "several hospitals inoperable."

Nearly half the population of Sudan — more than 21 million people — are facing acute food insecurity and lack adequate supplies, according to the UN. The IPC also says 4.2 million people are at risk of acute malnutrition this year.

Edited by: Jenipher Camino Gonzalez