According to local reports, heavy bombings and assaults at the end of last week in the Estar, the capital of the state of North Darfur, killed at least six civilians and the most injured scores, causing a fresh displacement of the already besieged city.
Sudan has been involved in a brutal civil war between the rival military: the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Paramilitary Fast Support forces (RSF) and the affiliated militias. Thousands of civilians have been killed, destroyed villages and farmland, and almost 12 million people expelled from their homes, more than four million as refugees in neighboring countries.
The country also runs the risk of becoming the world’s largest hunger crisis in recent history, since infrastructure, commercial routes and supply chains are found in the ruins. The famine has already been confirmed in the Zamzam camp, which once protected hundreds of thousands of civilians, and many more areas are at risk.
Essential services collapsing
Humanitarians warn that essential services are being broken down. Water transport to the only hospital in operation was suspended over the weekend and community kitchens closed after running out of food.
Without urgent support, they warn that the most vulnerable people could face severe hunger in a matter of days.
In Darfur, hospitals remain under immense tension.
Almost 100 injured people, including women and children, were admitted to medical facilities in a single day last week, with several dead pronounced on arrival, according to reports from the medical beneficial medical organization Médecins without Frontières (MSF – doctors without borders).
The survivors who managed to escape from El Pasher described “unbearable” conditions in the city, which have suffered more than a year of siege by the fast support forces (RSF) and the allied groups.
Children sit next to the improvised tents in the Estraf, North Darfur, where the intensified struggle has left thousands trapped.
Civil toll rise
The drone attacks on September 10 reached multiple locations in Darfur, hurting the scores.
A strike landed only four kilometers (approximately 2.5 miles) from a hospital backed by MSF in downtown Darfur, forcing the staff to activate a massive victims plan. The next day, two more strikes hit Nyala in southern Darfur, according to reports, killing at least four people, including a child.
The fight is not limited to Darfur. In Jartum, the Air attacks of RSF on September 9 damaged a power plant, causing a blackout in parts of the capital and interrupting critical hospital equipment and services.
Disasters join misery
Meanwhile, Sudan is dealing with natural disasters in addition to the conflict.
A landslide caused by heavy rains on August 31 at Sharg Aj Jabal, near the central and southern border of Darfur, killed some 400 people, half of them children, according to local reports.
In addition, more than 4,000 people were displaced and 550 houses destroyed in the state of AJ Jazirah on sudden floods last week.
Every year, hundreds of thousands of people in Sudan are affected by heavy rains, sudden floods and landslides.
Call to action
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) emphasized that civilians remain in the epicenter of violence.
“(We) once again we demand an immediate cessation of hostilities, the protection of civilians, safe humanitarian access without obstacles, and greater international support to maintain operations that save lives in Sudan,“The office said.
In Jartum, Ocha reported some improvements in the restoration of basic services and security. However, more than 800,000 people who have returned to the capital in recent months still need urgently help to rebuild their lives.
Political efforts
In the political front, the personal envoy of the Secretary General for Sudan, Ramtane Lamamra, is currently in Port Sudan after concluding consultations in Nairobi.
According to the UN spokesman, Stéphane Durric, Mr. Lamamra has had “very constructive commitments” with Sudanese interested parties throughout the spectrum, as well as key international interlocutors.
“These discussions will help to lay the necessary bases to support an inclusive process that can offer a sustainable solution that preserves the sovereignty of Sudan, its unity and territorial integrity,“Dujarric said.
He added that the UN also hopes to work closely with regional partners, including the African Union, the Intergovernmental Regional Development Authority of Eastern Africa (IGAD) and the League of the Arab States, to restart efforts towards an intra-Sudanese dialogue.