The United Nations announced on Monday that about 143,000 people have been displaced from El Fasher in North Darfur state as a result of clashes between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces.
The U.N. Office for Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement that “Sudan continues to slide into chaos, with the worsening humanitarian crisis and the horrific impact of the conflict on civilians in El Fasher and other conflict hotspots.”
“Over the past three months, up to 143,000 people may have been displaced from El Fasher in North Darfur state due to clashes between the army and the RSF in the area,” he said.
An estimated 7.3 million people have been internally displaced since mid-April 2023.
From 1 January to 30 April 2024, humanitarian partners provided humanitarian assistance to more than 5.2 million people across the country.
Since May 10, El Fasher has been witnessing clashes between the army and the Rapid Support, despite international warnings of battles in the city, which is the center of humanitarian operations for all Darfur states (west).
For her part, the Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Clementine Nkwita Salami, condemned the attack on the Saudi hospital in the city of El Fasher, North Darfur state, and the killing of a pharmacist in the hospital.
“Another day of violence in Sudan brings another humanitarian tragedy in the city of El Fasher, this time, the person who will not return to his family is a pharmacist, who died when an explosive artillery shell hit the corner of the hospital where she works,” it said in a statement.
The UN official stressed that every life lost in this senseless war takes Sudan another step away from peace.
On Saturday, the organization “Doctors Without Borders” announced in a statement that “a shelling of the Rapid Support Forces on the night of Friday, June 21, affected the pharmacy of the Saudi Maternity Hospital, which the organization supports in El Fasher, killing a pharmacist while working and damaging the building,” while there was no immediate comment from the Rapid Support Forces on the accusations of the international organization.
Since mid-April 2023, the Sudanese army led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the Rapid Support led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti) have been fighting a war that has left about 15,000 dead and about 8.5 million displaced and refugees, according to the United Nations.
There have been growing UN and international calls to spare Sudan a humanitarian catastrophe that could push millions into starvation and death due to food shortages due to fighting that has spread to 12 of the country’s 18 states.
