The UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Friday that hunger in Sudan’s Zamzam refugee camp could worsen after the agency temporarily paused food assistance to the camp, citing intense fighting and escalating violence.

A spokesperson for WFP stated that the agency had no other choice but to evacuate the staff, stressing that residents of the camp are left in difficult conditions with limited access to food.

On Wednesday, the agency released a statement saying that without assistance thousands of people could starve in the coming weeks, but added that for the aid to continue, the fighting must stop and security guarantees for humanitarian organizations must be granted. In February, a state of famine was declared in Zamzan camp, with WFP continuously feeding about 300,000 camp residents.

On Thursday, ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan stated before the UN Security Council that it is clear to the court that international crimes are being committed in Sudan’s Darfur region. Khan expressed concern about gender crimes against girls and women who are subject to rape, adding that the whole “landscape is one of destruction, and, we say, criminality.”

Sudan’s civil war has raged since April 2023, fought between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), composed primarily of Janjaweed militias and formerly controlled by the Sudanese government, and the Sudanese Armed Forces.

The larger Darfur region, where North Darfur is located, while predominantly Muslim, has historically faced economic and tribal or ethnic differences. In the early 2000s, the Sudanese government used these differences by arming the Janjaweed Arab militia groups to attack African ethnic groups, particularly the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa.