UN Secretary-General António Guterres sent emergency relief coordinator Martin Griffiths to the region because of the “unprecedented” situation.
Even after the renewal of the ceasefire in Sudan, which had not been observed anyway, the warring parties again engaged in fierce fighting. Warplanes flew over the capital Khartoum on Monday; According to eyewitnesses, gunshots and explosions rocked several neighborhoods. UN Secretary-General António Guterres sent emergency relief coordinator Martin Griffiths to the region because of the “unprecedented” situation.
The army and paramilitary militia RSF confirmed late on Sunday, just before a ceasefire expired at midnight, that it would be extended for another 72 hours. However, like previous ceasefires, it was initially not adhered to.
The power struggle has been going on for two weeks
In Sudan, army units under the command of military ruler Abdel Fattah al-Burhan have been fighting the RSF militia led by General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo (Hemedti) for two weeks. The head of the army categorically rejects direct negotiations with the head of the RSF. Hemedti doesn’t want to talk to Burhan until the army stops his attacks. Both again accused each other of breaking the agreements. According to official data, more than 500 people were killed and thousands were injured in the fighting. The actual number of victims is believed to be much higher. Western countries flew their citizens to safety by plane or ship.
“The scale and speed” of events in Sudan are “unprecedented”, UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said on Sunday when the Griffiths mission was announced. The UN has again called on parties to the conflict to protect civilians and infrastructure, allow safe escape corridors from the combat zone, respect aid workers and medical personnel, and facilitate relief operations.
The humanitarian crisis in Sudan is deepening, Griffiths said. “The scale and speed with which events are unfolding in Sudan is unprecedented. We are extremely concerned about the immediate and long-term impact on all people in Sudan and across the region.” Even before the outbreak of fighting, a third of the population depended on humanitarian aid. The UN now speaks of 75,000 internally displaced people in Sudan. At least 20,000 people also fled to Chad, 6,000 to the Central African Republic and thousands more to South Sudan and Ethiopia.
WHO warns of “disaster”
The WHO has warned that the health system in the northeast African country faces a “catastrophe”. Even before the outbreak of armed conflict, “Sudan’s health system was facing numerous crises and was extremely vulnerable,” WHO regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean, Ahmed al-Mandhari, told AFP. Now that hospitals are being bombed, drugs are in short supply and many doctors are fleeing the country, it is “a disaster in every sense of the word”. Al-Mandhari also warned of the growing threat of diseases such as cholera and malaria.
The World Food Program plans to resume emergency relief programs in Sudan, WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain announced on Twitter on Monday. “WFP is rapidly resuming its programs to provide the vital assistance many people desperately need right now,” McCain wrote. Shortly after violence broke out in Sudan about two weeks ago, the World Food Program halted its activities after several staff members died in the fighting. Millions of Sudanese are starving as a result of the crisis, McCain said.
(APA)