The World Food Program (WFP) said today that it is receiving reports of people dying of starvation in Sudan and that the number of people going hungry has doubled in the past year as war prevents aid from reaching civilians.

WFP has issued an urgent appeal to Sudan’s warring parties, the Sudanese armed forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Force (RSF), to immediately provide guarantees for the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid.

Almost 18 million people across Sudan are facing acute famine and more than five million are experiencing a state of emergency due to famine in areas worst affected by the conflict.

The WFP says in a statement that it has been able to deliver aid to just one in 10 people in those areas, which include the capital Khartoum, western Darfur region and El Gezira state, where the RSF has recently been deployed. “It is becoming almost impossible for aid agencies to enter these areas due to security threats, road blockades and demands for tolls and fees,” the WFP statement said.

WFP says it is trying to get security guarantees to resume operations in El Gezira, which was previously an aid hub where many Khartoum residents took refuge.

Aid deliveries to Sudan are limited because 70 trucks have been stuck in Port Sudan for more than two weeks and another 31 have been stuck in El Obeid for more than three months, the agency said. Both these cities are controlled by the armed forces.

“Every single one of our trucks needs to be on the road every day, every day to deliver food to the Sudanese people,” said Eddie Rowe, WFP’s representative in Sudan.

“Yet life-saving aid is not reaching those who need it most and we are already receiving reports of people dying of starvation,” he added.