War-hit Sudan is sliding into a "widening famine crisis" that has been marked by worsening starvation and a surge in acute malnutrition, an independent group of food security experts says. Famine has spread to five areas,

Almost 25 million people are now in urgent need of food aid, amounting to one of the gravest starvation crises in modern times.

The world’s leading experts on hunger, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Famine Review Committee, found that famine has spread in Sudan.

Famine in Sudan has expanded to five areas and will likely spread to another five by May, the global hunger monitor reported Tuesday, while warring parties continue to disrupt humanitarian aid needed to alleviate one of the worst starvation crises in modern times.

CAIRO — Famine is spreading in Sudan due to a war between the military and a notorious paramilitary group that has devastated the country and created the world’s largest displacement crisis, a global hunger monitoring group said Tuesday.

According to the U.N. nearly 14 million people have been displaced and more than 24,000 people have been killed in Sudan's war.

The Sudanese government has suspended its participation in the global hunger-monitoring system on the eve of a report that’s expected to show famine spreading across the country, a step likely to undercut efforts to address one of the world’s largest hunger crises.