UN rights chief warns of 'mass deaths from famine' in Sudan

The UN human rights chief warned of the risk of a further escalation of the war in Sudan on Thursday and said that there was a growing risk of deaths from starvation on a wide scale.

Volker Turk's warning came a day after the UN World Food Programme has temporarily stopped distributing food aid in a famine-struck camp for displaced people in Sudan's North Darfur amid escalating violence.

"Sudan is a powder keg, on the verge of a further explosion into chaos, and at increasing risk of atrocity crimes and mass deaths from famine," he told the Human Rights Council in Geneva. "The danger of escalation has never been higher."

War erupted in April 2023 amid a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule, triggering the world's largest displacement and hunger crisis.

Already, famine conditions have been reported in at least five locations in Sudan, including displacement camps in Darfur, according to the United Nations.

Turk said that recent moves by the RSF towards establishing governing authority in areas it controls were likely to "further entrench divisions and the risk of continued hostilities".

He also noted continued supplies of weapons to the warring parties from outside the country, including more advanced arms.