Fears of famine are growing across Sudan's West Kordofan state, where local aid workers have warned that worsening hunger, failed harvests and the continuing war are pushing communities towards catastrophe.
The Dar Hamar Emergency Room, an informal volunteer-led aid group, warned on Saturday that an "imminent famine" threatened six localities in West Kordofan following poor rainfall, damaged harvests and soaring food prices.
The group said conditions had deteriorated sharply across areas largely controlled by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), with widespread looting and the destruction of livelihoods exacerbating the food crisis, according to Sudan Tribune.
The warning comes just days after reports that families in the town of Al-Odaya had resorted to eating umbaz, the residue left after oilseeds are pressed and normally used as animal feed, because of severe food shortages.
The Dar Hamar Emergency Room said residents were also facing disrupted transport, shortages of medicines and an outbreak of cholera, compounding the effects of malnutrition.
The latest warning adds West Kordofan to other areas of Sudan affected by severe hunger.
The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) has warned of a credible risk of famine through January in seven areas of North Darfur, as well as Dilling and Kadugli in South Kordofan.
The organisation said worsening conflict or renewed sieges, combined with marginal or almost non-existent crop production, could push affected communities into famine conditions.
Sudan's annual harvest season normally begins in October and runs until the end of the year, typically increasing food availability and helping reduce market prices.
However, more than three years of fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF has devastated agricultural production and disrupted markets and humanitarian access across large parts of the country.
The World Food Programme says it is currently reaching more than four million people each month, including around 825,000 people in Kordofan, but has warned that a huge gap remains between humanitarian needs and available resources.
The deepening hunger crisis comes as weapons become increasingly available throughout Sudan despite international attempts to curb the flow of arms into the conflict.
Sudanese authorities said on Saturday that customs and intelligence forces had intercepted a cache of weapons and military equipment being smuggled along the Red Sea coast.
Sudan's Customs Police said the seizure, in the south of Red Sea State, included a Kornet anti-tank missile launcher, 595 empty Kalashnikov magazines and another 595 G4 magazines, as well as 15 US-made pistols and three Brazilian-made pistols.
The operation was carried out jointly by the state's anti-smuggling department and Sudan's General Intelligence Service.
Authorities did not identify the origin of the shipment or its intended recipient, and did not announce any arrests in connection with the seizure.
Sudan has been engulfed in war since April 2023, when tensions between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy, RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, erupted into open conflict.
The fighting has since displaced millions of people and created one of the world's largest humanitarian crises, with famine or the risk of famine affecting communities across several regions of the country.