The top U.N. humanitarian official on Friday voiced concern about the spread of violence in Sudan and said a lasting conflict could tip the entire region into "humanitarian catastrophe".
"This viral conflict and the hunger, disease and displacement left in its wake now threatens to consume the entire country," said Martin Griffiths in a statement sent to journalists on Friday, mentioning specific concerns about the safety of civilians in the country's breadbasket Gezira State.
"Hundreds of thousands of children are severely malnourished and at imminent risk of death if left untreated," he added.
TOPSHOT - South Sudanese civilians flee fighting in an United Nations base in the northeastern town of Malakal on February 18, 2016, where gunmen opened fire on civilians sheltering inside killing at least five people.
Gunfire broke out in the base in Malakal in the northeast Upper Nile region on February 17, 2016 night, with clashes continuing on Thursday morning that left large plumes of smoke rising from burning tents in the camp which houses over 47,000 civilians.
/ AFP / Justin LYNCH (Photo credit should read JUSTIN LYNCH/AFP/Getty Images)