The UN's main food agency has warned that families trapped within the besieged Sudanese city of el-Fasher face starvation, BBC reported.

The World Food Programme (WFP) said it had not been able to deliver food to the city in the western Darfur region by road for more than a year.

El-Fasher has been surrounded by paramilitary fighters from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for nearly16 months - determined to seize it from Sudan's army.

The WFP warning comes as local activists have already begun reporting deaths by starvation in the city, which is home to about 250,000 people, according to BBC.