British MPs have warned that food aid is being used as a weapon of war in Sudan’s bitter civil conflict.
Vicky Ford, the chair of parliament’s all-party group on Sudan, said there was evidence both warring sides – the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces – were restricting humanitarian aid.
She was speaking after new research suggested more than 100 villages in western Sudan had been burned.
The war in Sudan has been raging for almost year and the fighting is brutal.
The Centre for Information Resilience – a government-funded research group – says that 108 villages and settlements in western Sudan have been fully or partially destroyed by fire since last April.
The UK Foreign Office says what’s happening bears all the hallmarks of ethnic cleansing as black Africans are targeted by Arab militias.
There are warnings of famine with more than 20 million people needing food aid.
Ms Ford also said sexual violence against women was widespread, with evidence that some girls were deliberately disfiguring themselves to avoid rape.
The all-party group has put out a statement calling for the international community to give more aid.
It’s also urging some countries – including the United Arab Emirates – to stop giving arms to the warring parties.