On Thursday, the UN office of humanitarian affairs, OCHAreported that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group allegedly opened fire on Tuesday and Wednesday on the Saudi hospital and a local mosque, where displaced families had sought shelter.
The Saudi hospital “is the city’s last functioning medical facility, serving thousands of war-affected people“, the agency said in a tweet.
Healthcare under attack
OCHA “strongly condemned” attacks and others carried out recently by the RSF in El Fasher – the last bastion under the control of the Khartoum government in the region, where famine was declared last year.
“Civilians must never be attacked,” OCHA said. “We once again echo the UN Secretary-General’s call for an immediate cessation of hostilities.”
The United Nations agency for reproductive health, UNFPA, said Tuesday’s attack targeted the maternity ward, killing 12 people and injuring many others, including patients and health workers.
“This is the third attack on the hospital in a week“, UNFPA said, calling for “an immediate end to hostilities, protection of civilians and health facilities, and safe and unhindered humanitarian access to provide life-saving assistance to those in desperate need.”
The inhabitants of El Fasher “are trapped, terrified and cut off from help, and their last lifeline to medical care is under threat“, declared UN spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, during the daily press briefing from New York.
“And it goes without saying that targeting hospitals must be condemned and never acceptable. »
City under siege
El Fasher has been under siege for more than a year.
In recent months, the RSF – formerly the Janjaweed militias responsible for atrocities against non-Arab communities in Darfur in the early 2000s – have stepped up artillery bombardments and drone attacks in a bid to capture the city.
Beyond Darfur, Sudan remains mired in a civil war that has raged since April 2023. It has created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with more than 30 million people in need of assistance.
Around 12 million people have been displaced, with more than four million fleeing to neighboring countries like Chad, the Central African Republic and beyond.
Conflicts, clashes and displacements
The fighting is now aggravated by community clashes. On October 7 and 8, field teams from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) recorded some 250 people displaced from the town of Kernoi, near the border with Chad, following an intra-communal conflict between members of the Zaghawa tribe, one of the four main non-Arab communities in the region.
Civilians continue to flee El Fasher and the neighboring Zamzam camp, where the population has fallen by 70 percent in the past six months.
Humanitarians estimate that the number of people residing in the area fell from 700,000 in March to 200,000 in September.
Thousands of families have fled to neighboring towns like Tawila, which is now home to some 600,000 displaced people.
While the UN and its partners remain committed to supporting the people of El Fasher and across Sudan, Mr. Dujarric stressed the need for safe humanitarian access, greater protection of civilians and an immediate humanitarian pause in and around the city.
Originally published at Almouwatin.com
