Nigeria, March 13 -- Medecins Sans Frontieres, also called Doctors Without Borders (MSF), on Monday, warned of "catastrophic levels of malnutrition" and an escalating humanitarian crisis in Nigeria's Northwest geopolitical zone.

The charity organisation says in the region over 854 children died in its facilities across Zamfara, Sokoto, and Katsina due to armed conflict resulting in malnutrition and limiting access to healthcare facilities.

Non-state actors in the region, locally called bandits, routinely ransack communities, loot and burn silos and carry out mass kidnappings for ransom, driving what the international aid group called a "neglected humanitarian emergency."

MSF said its teams in five of the seven northwestern states treat...