A Sudanese paramilitary force locked in a war with the army has placed new constraints on aid deliveries to territories where it is seeking to cement its control, including areas where famine is spreading, humanitarian workers say.
The move comes as the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces seek to form a parallel government in the west of the country, while it is rapidly losing ground in the capital, Khartoum — developments that could further divide the country, which split from South Sudan in 2011.
It also puts hundreds of thousands of people in the western region of Darfur at greater risk of starvation — many of them displaced in previous rounds of conflict.
