More than 10 million Sudanese, or 20 percent of the population, have been driven from their homes since the war began, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday, as the world's largest displacement crisis continues to worsen.

The number is the latest dire figure out of the east African country, devastated by a conflict that began in April 2023. The conflict has left half the population of about 50 million facing a hunger crisis and in need of humanitarian aid, the most of any country.

More than 2.2 million people have fled to other countries since the war began, while almost 7.8 million sought refuge inside the country, the IOM said in a bimonthly report. An additional 2.8 million people were already displaced by previous conflicts in the country.

Fighting between the army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that broke out in the capital Khartoum last year quickly expanded across Darfur to the west, with the RSF taking control of most centers. UN experts say hunger has replaced violence as the largest driver of migration from Darfur, where they face difficulty delivering aid.

As the RSF expanded its reach in the southeast of the country in recent weeks, more than 150,000 people were displaced from Sennar state, the IOM said, many for the second or third time after RSF raids on markets and homes in the state's small towns and villages.

The RSF denies harming civilians and attributes the activity to rogue actors.