Sudan trapped in 'inferno of brutal violence' as reckless abandon, rape, torture & ethnic violence streams in

People in Sudan “are trapped in an inferno of brutal violence” with famine, disease and fighting closing in and no end in sight, the top UN humanitarian official in the war-ravaged country said on Wednesday.

“Horrific atrocities are being committed with reckless abandon, reports of rape, torture and ethnically motivated violence are streaming in", communities and families have been torn apart, and almost 9 million people have been forced to flee their homes in what is now the world’s largest displacement crisis,” Clementine Nkweta-Salami said while addressing to media.

Nkweta-Salami said that hostilities in El Fasher have been escalating and clashes over the weekend and early this week caused dozens of casualties and displaced many more of the 800,000 people still in the city.

More from World

Nepal's new PM pays homage to people died during the Gen Z protest in her first national address This Week in Explainers: How recovering from Gen-Z protests is a Himalayan task for Nepal

She said there are just six weeks before “the lean season” begins, when food becomes less available and more expensive. It also coincides with the rainy season when reaching people is very difficult because water-logged roads become impassable, and the end of the planting season when the UN needs to provide seeds to farmers, she said.

Earlier this month, the UN food agency warned Sudan’s warring parties of a serious risk of widespread starvation and death in Darfur and other regions if humanitarian aid is not allowed into the vast western area. This warning was echoed on Wednesday by Nkweta-Salami.

Impact Shorts

More Shorts

‘The cries of this widow will echo’: In first public remarks, Erika Kirk warns Charlie’s killers they’ve ‘unleashed a fire’

Trump urges Nato to back sanctions on Russia, calls for 50–100% tariffs on China

Sudan has been in conflict since mid-April 2023, when tensions between the military, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, erupted into street battles in the capital, Khartoum. The fighting has since spread to other parts of the country, particularly urban areas and Darfur. The UN reports that over 14,000 people have been killed and 33,000 injured.

The RSF has gained control of most of Darfur and is besieging El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur and the only capital city they do not yet control. The UN humanitarian coordinator for Sudan urged “more funding and fast”.

On April 15, donors pledged USD 2.1 billion in humanitarian aid for Sudan, but Nkweta-Salami said the UN’s USD 2.7 billion humanitarian appeal – to help nearly 15 million of the country’s 58 million people – is just 12 per cent funded.

“Without more resources, we won’t be able to scale up in time to stave off famine and further deprivation,” she warned.

Leni Kinzli, the UN World Food Programme’s regional spokesperson, said on May 3 that at least 1.7 million people in Darfur were experiencing emergency levels of hunger in Sudan in December, and the number is expected to be “much higher” now.

“People are resorting to consuming grass and peanut shells,” Kinzli said. “And if assistance doesn’t reach them soon, we risk witnessing widespread starvation and death in Darfur and across other conflict-affected areas in Sudan.”

Nkweta-Salami demanded unfettered access to the millions in need, urging more aid deliveries from Chad which borders Darfur, and across conflict lines.

She said food, water and medicine are desperately needed in El Fasher, which is now completely surrounded. As an example of the difficulties the UN and other aid agencies face, she said a UN convoy with more than a dozen trucks carrying critical supplies for 120,000 people left Port Sudan on April 3 but still hasn’t reached El Fasher because of insecurity, checkpoints and delays in getting clearances.

With inputs from agencies.