JABAR EKSPRES – United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is alarmed by reports of large-scale violence and casualties in Sudan.
”He is very worried about the increase in ethnic violence, as well as reports of sexual violence,” UN Secretary-General Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement on Tuesday (13/6).
To that end, according to him, Guterres called on the warring parties in Sudan to stop fighting and commit to a sustained cessation of hostilities.
Guterres also urged all parties to protect civilians.
“With nearly 9 million people now in urgent need of humanitarian assistance and protection in Darfur, he emphasized the need to end looting and expand access,” Dujarric said.
Sudan has been engulfed in crisis since fighting erupted on April 15, 2023 between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
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The UN has called the humanitarian situation in Sudan extremely precarious as essential materials for people’s survival have become scarce in urban centers hardest hit by the fighting.
More than 13.6 million children are in urgent need of life-saving humanitarian assistance in Sudan, the highest number ever recorded in the country amid fierce fighting, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
More than 700 people have been killed, including 190 children, and 6,000 others injured, according to UN data.
In addition, more than a million residents have been displaced and more than 840,000 people have sought refuge in rural areas and other states while another 250,000 people have crossed the Sudanese border.
The conflict was triggered by disagreements over the past few months between the two parties on the integration of the RSF into Sudan’s armed forces, which was a key condition of Sudan’s transitional agreement with political groups.
Sudan has been without a functioning government since October 2021 when the military dissolved the transitional government of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and declared a state of emergency in a move denounced by political forces as a coup.
