UN claims that Sudan’s warring parties have used starvation as a weapon

Both sides in Sudan’s civil war are using starvation as a weapon of war, the United Nations has said. The United Nations accuses foreign governments that provide military support to both sides of complicity in war crimes.

Sudan has been fighting between the regular army (SAF) led by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Force (RSF) led by his former aide Mohammed Hamdan Daglo.

According to the United Nations, more than 14,000 people have died in the fighting that began in April 2023. More than 33,000 have been injured, while rights activists have said that this number could be much higher. It is said to have given rise to the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Four independent UN rights experts say more than 25 million people are starving and need immediate aid.

“Both the SAF and the RSF are using food as a weapon and starving civilians,” the expert said in a special report on the right to food.

Experts have pointed out that foreign governments that provide financial and military aid to both sides in the conflict are complicit in starvation and crimes against humanity and war crimes. The international community has also been asked to speed up humanitarian work.