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Famine looms in war- torn Sudan

March 21, 2024 00:00:00


KHARTOUM, Mar 20 (BBC): Top UN officials have said the Sudan's civil war conflict has plunged the country into "one of the worst humanitarian nightmares in recent history" and could trigger the world's largest hunger crisis.

There are also fears that in Darfur, in the west of the country, a repeat of what the US called genocide 20 years ago may be beginning to unfold.

As if out of nowhere, a huge blast shakes the road in Omdurman. People scream and run in all directions, shouting: "Go back, go back, there'll be another one." Thick smoke blankets everything.

Moments earlier, the battered street had been dotted with pedestrians picking up rice, bread and vegetables from the shops, which had only recently begun to re-open.

In mid-February, the Sudanese army retook the city - one of three along the River Nile that form Sudan's wider capital, Khartoum.

Civilians have now started to return, but mortars, like the one that landed in the middle of this main street, still fall daily.

For international media, gaining access to cover the civil war that erupted last April has been difficult - but the BBC has managed to get to the front line.

Our team found the once-bustling heart of Omdurman transformed into a thinly inhabited wasteland.

The vicious power struggle between the country's military and its former ally, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group, has killed at least 14,000 people across the country - possibly many more.

For nearly a year, the army and the RSF have battled over Khartoum and the nearby cities.


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