Sudan War Enters 1,000th Day amid Mass Hunger and Displacement

By Staff, Agencies

Aid agencies have marked 1,000 days of fighting in Sudan, warning that the conflict has triggered the world’s largest hunger crisis and displacement emergency, leaving millions of civilians to bear the consequences of a war they did not choose.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), at least 9.3 million people have been internally displaced since fighting erupted in April 2023, while more than 4.3 million have fled to neighboring countries, placing severe strain on regional resources. An estimated 21 million people across Sudan are facing acute food insecurity.

“Every day, civilians have been paying the price for a war they did not choose,” OCHA said on Friday.

While some displaced families have returned to the capital, Khartoum, UN officials warned that civilians there continue to face serious dangers, including unexploded ordnance.

Elsewhere, fighting persists on multiple fronts, particularly in the Kordofan region in western Sudan.

OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke told reporters in Geneva that sieges have cut off the towns of Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan state, and Dilling, north of Kadugli, severely restricting access to food, healthcare, farmland, and markets.

In Darfur, ground fighting and drone attacks continue, while long-range missile and drone strikes have hit civilian infrastructure far from active front lines, the UN said.

Children have been among the most heavily affected. Ongoing clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have continued to kill and injure minors, with eight children reportedly killed earlier this week in an attack in Al Obeid, North Kordofan.