UN asks for aid for Sudan as fighting rages, despite mediation efforts | Tellwell Newspaper
Tellwell Newspaper, Abuja – Nigeria:
The United Nations says more than half of Sudan’s population needs aid and protection, and has appealed for €2.3 billion of aid as mediation efforts to stop the fighting between the army and paramilitary rebels have failed and the conflict threatens to destabilise the region.
People who have remained in the capital, Khartoum, are struggling to survive, with food and water supplies dwindling as the power struggle between the army and the paramilitary rapid support forces (RSF) enters its second month, despite international mediation efforts.
The UN’s Office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (OCHA) said 25 million people need help, up from 15 million before the start of the conflict, and it appealed for 2.56 billion dollars (€2.36 billion) for operations from May through October.
Aid agencies are unable to access the capital, so distribution of medical aid, food and fuel is being carried out by groups known as resistance committees which had led protests against the military over the past several years.
A million displaced
The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said more than a million people have been displaced by the fighting.
About 220,000 people have fled to neighbouring countries – north to Egypt, or west to Chad, which borders Darfur. Others have headed to Port Sudan on the Red Sea, hoping to catch boats to Saudi Arabia.
The conflict is concentrated in Khartoum, but has triggered fighting elsewhere, especially in the western region of Darfur.
Officials have recorded 676 deaths and more than 5,500 injuries, but the real toll is expected to be far higher with many reports of bodies left in the streets and people struggling to bury the dead.
Failed mediation
The army, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has been targeting RSF fighters with air strikes and shelling to force them out of residential areas of Khartoum.
The RSF, under the command of General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, has attacked major military bases in northern Omdurman and southern Khartoum in an apparent attempt to prevent the army from deploying heavy weaponry and fighter jets.
The two warring parties began talks in Jeddah brokered by Saudi Arabia and the United States more than a week ago.
The talks have so far failed to secure a ceasefire, though both sides agreed to a statement of principles on protecting civilians and allowing aid supplies.
Arrangements for humanitarian corridors and agreeing a truce are still being discussed.
RFI/News Agencies
