GENEVA

The World Food Programme (WFP) on Friday warned that conditions in Sudan's besieged city of El-Fasher are "beyond horrific," with between 70,000 and 100,000 people believed to remain trapped amid mass killings, starvation, and the collapse of basic services.

Speaking to reporters in Geneva, WFP Director of Emergency Preparedness and Response Ross Smith said network blackouts have largely cut off communications, allowing only limited information to emerge from the North Darfur city.

"Satellite images and survivor accounts describe the city as a crime scene with mass killings, burned bodies, and abandoned markets," Smith said. He added that there is no indication trade routes have reopened or that supplies are entering the city and said WFP has no humanitarian partners left on the ground and no verified reports that community kitchens are operating.

Smith described fleeing El-Fasher as "extremely dangerous," citing robbery, looting, gender-based violence, and roads littered with mines and unexploded ordnance. People who managed to escape reported paying exorbitant sums for transportation only to arrive in areas where assistance is stretched thin, he said.

WFP called for unimpeded access to El-Fasher to assess humanitarian needs. Smith said Rapid Support Forces (RSF) authorities have agreed "in principle" to UN minimum conditions for entry.

"WFP is ready: food and trucks are in place to immediately reach the entire civilian population if safe passage is secured," he said.

He also highlighted Tawila, where more than 650,000 displaced people are sheltering in overcrowded, makeshift conditions, with cholera widespread and services scarce.

Smith warned that without urgent funding, the WFP will be forced to cut rations in 2026, risking a further deterioration.

"To maintain current levels of assistance, the WFP has been forced to stretch supplies thin. Beginning in January, rations will be reduced to 70% for communities in famine areas and 50% for those at risk of famine—the absolute minimum for survival," he said, warning that even with these measures, the agency only has resources to sustain current support for "four months."

"If another massive surge in displacement occurs... the WFP will be forced to cut assistance elsewhere in Sudan. This is a devastating situation to be facing as we work tirelessly to respond to the world's largest humanitarian disaster," he said.

Of Sudan’s 18 states, the RSF controls all five states of the Darfur region in the west, except for some northern parts of North Darfur that remain under army control. The army, in turn, holds most areas of the remaining 13 states in the south, north, east, and center, including the capital, Khartoum.

The conflict between the Sudanese army and the RSF, which began in April 2023, has since killed thousands of people and displaced millions of others.