Fighting between Sudan’s army and its rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has been fighting for more than a year, has recently intensified in the city of North Darfur.
Civilians are being attacked from all sides and news of reported casualties and human rights abuses is appalling, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan Clementine Nkweta-Salami said in statement.
‘Deeply disturbing report’
“Families, including children and the elderly, are being prevented from leaving the city as they seek safety,” she said.
“We are receiving disturbing reports that medical facilities, displacement camps and critical civilian infrastructure have been targeted by parties to the conflict.”
Ms. Nkweta-Salami added that many areas of El Fryer were left without electricity and water and a growing proportion of the population had limited access to food, health care and basic needs and other essential services.
Complaints to the parties
“After more than a year of brutal conflict, families have exhausted scarce resources and their resilience is being eroded with each day of violence,” she said.
The top United Nations aid official in the country stressed that all parties must avoid the use of explosive weapons in populated areas and take all feasible precautions to protect civilians and authorities. civil infrastructure.
“War has rules that everyone must respect, no matter what,” she said.
Conflict displaced millions of people
Meanwhile, the war has displaced more than seven million people in Sudan, more than half of whom are children, the United Nations’ humanitarian affairs office said. OCHA, speak on Wednesday, cited data from the United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM).
This is in addition to an estimated 2 million people who have fled to neighboring countries since the conflict erupted in April 2023.
The United Nations and partners continue to scale up efforts to respond to rising hunger and food insecurity in Sudan. Some 18 million people All over the country are hungry and 5 million people are on the brink of famine.
Food on the go
United Nations World Food Program (WFP) reports that 1,200 tons of food supply for about 116,000 people is being transported throughout the Darfur region and is close to final destinations in Central Darfur and 12 locations across South Darfur, including displacement camps in Nyala .
Supplies came from a WFP convoyover Sudanfrom Chad last week.
Food distribution is also underway for 135,000 people in South Kordofan state as WFP reiterates that aid must reach vulnerable communities safely.
