The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) announced that the first flight of humanitarian aid landed in Sudan on Sunday. The plane carried eight tonnes of aid, including surgical material to support Sudanese hospitals and volunteers from the Sudan Red Crescent Society.
Deadly clashes between forces loyal to two rival generals have continued for the third week, leaving around 500 dead and thousands wounded, while tens of thousands have been displaced from their homes. Dead bodies remain on the capital’s streets, and the ICRC’s Africa regional director, Patrick Youssef, said they are ‘trying to get to the bodies in the streets.’
The World Health Organisation reported that only 16% of hospitals in the capital city of Khartoum are completely functioning after many facilities were shelled in the ongoing fighting. Youssef called the eastern city of Port Sudan the only entry point currently available for aid to reach Sudan.
He added that the medical kits on the plane were ‘enough to stabilise 1,500 patients,’ and the ICRC was seeking security guarantees to send aid to Darfur and Khartoum. Some aid was delivered to Darfur at the beginning, but ‘it was not enough, and we could not get anything to Khartoum,’ Youssef said.
Sudan’s former prime minister, Abdalla Hamdok, warned that the conflict could turn into one of the worst civil wars globally. ‘God forbid if Sudan is to reach a point of civil war proper…Syria, Yemen, Libya will be a small play,’ said Hamdok.
Around 75,000 people have been displaced from their homes due to the fighting, with around 20,000 fleeing to Chad, 4,000 to South Sudan, 3,500 to Ethiopia, and 3,000 to the Central African Republic, according to the UN. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has also appealed for negotiations to end the civil strife, stating, ‘There is no right to go on fighting for power when the country is falling apart.’ He added that his appeal was for everything to be done to support an African-led initiative for peace in Sudan.
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