19M set to suffer food insecurity in conflict-torn Sudan: UN

The UN warned that nearly 19 million Sudanese will suffer from food insecurity amid ongoing fighting between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group.

The World Food Program (WFP) expects that the "number of acutely food insecure people in Sudan will increase by between two and 2.5 million people," said Deputy UN spokesman Farhan Haq.

"That raises the number to a total of 19 million people in the next three to six months if the current conflict continues," he added.

According to the WFP, the most affected Sudanese provinces to see high rates of food insecurity would be West Darfur, West Kordofan, Blue Nile, and Red Sea.

Haq reiterated an appeal by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to secure $445 million to support an outflow of refugees from Sudan and to provide aid in the next six months.

Fighting between two rival generals — army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo — broke out on April 15, leaving more than 550 people dead and thousands injured.