The United Nations’ food agency says it has temporarily paused aid distribution in Sudan’s famine-hit Zamzam displacement camp of a half-million people as fighting intensifies between the country’s warring sides.
The World Food Program said in a statement Wednesday that fighting over the past two weeks between the military and a paramilitary group forced its partners to leave the camp in western Darfur for safety.
“Without immediate assistance, thousands of desperate families in Zamzam could starve in the coming weeks,” said the agency's regional director, Laurent Bukera.
The WFP and partners managed only to reach 60,000 people this month amid intensified shelling on the camp.
A recent attack destroyed the camp’s central open market, pushing residents farther from accessing essential food and supplies, the agency said.
Earlier this week, the Doctors Without Borders medical charity said it paused its operations, including its field hospital, in the camp due intensified attacks.
