KHARTOUM, Sudan

Twenty-five people have died due to the spread of epidemics and shortages of food and medicine in Wad Ashib village in central Sudan, a local activist group said on Tuesday.

“The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group has caused a humanitarian disaster and another tragedy in the village of Wad Ashib, east of Al Jazirah state,” the Center Call group said in a statement.

It warned that all residents of the village “are at the risk of death due to the spread of diseases and epidemics, coupled with a complete lack of medical care and medication, in addition to the challenges they face in obtaining food.”

“The village is completely surrounded, and residents cannot either leave or receive medical or food supplies, resulting in the deaths of 25 citizens so far, with many others sick, including some in critical condition,” it said.

Clashes between the RSF and the Sudanese army resumed in Al Jazirah on Oct. 20 after paramilitary leader Abu Aqla Kikil, a native of the area, defected and declared his allegiance to the army.

By December 2023, Kikil’s RSF faction had taken control of several cities in Al Jazirah, including Wad Madani, the state’s capital.

The RSF currently controls large swaths of Al Jazirah, excluding Al Manaqil and its surrounding areas, which stretch southward to the border of Sennar State and westward to the border of White Nile State.

Since mid-April 2023, the Sudanese army and the RSF have been engaged in a conflict that has resulted in more than 20,000 deaths and displaced nearly 10 million people, according to the UN.

There have been growing calls from the UN and international bodies to end the conflict, as the war has pushed millions of Sudanese to the brink of famine and death due to food shortages, with the fighting spreading to 13 of Sudan's 18 states.