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Al Jazeera
17-06-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
UN fact-finding mission says Sudan conflict escalating, aid weaponised
The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan has warned that both sides in the country's civil war have escalated the use of heavy weaponry in populated areas while weaponising humanitarian relief, amid devastating consequences for civilians. 'Let us be clear: the conflict in Sudan is far from over,' said Mohamed Chande Othman, chair of the Fact-Finding Mission, which presented its latest findings to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Tuesday. 'The scale of human suffering continues to deepen. The fragmentation of governance, the militarisation of society, and the involvement of foreign actors are fuelling an ever-deadlier crisis.' The brutal conflict, now in its third year, erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and has killed tens of thousands of civilians and displaced more than 13 million Sudanese, according to United Nations data. The UN has previously said that Sudan is experiencing the world's 'worst humanitarian crisis'. The mission found that both sides escalated the use of heavy weaponry in populated areas. In May, an RSF drone strike on Obeid International Hospital in North Kordofan killed six civilians, while earlier this month, an SAF bombing in Al Koma killed at least 15 civilians. Aid was also being weaponised by the SAF, which imposed bureaucratic restrictions, as well as by the RSF, which looted convoys and blocked aid, the group said. The mission also documented a sharp rise in sexual and gender-based violence, including gang rape, abduction, sexual slavery, and forced marriage, mostly in RSF-controlled displacement camps. Member of the Fact-Finding Mission Mona Rishmawi said what began as a political and security crisis has become 'a grave human rights and protection emergency, marked by international crimes that stain all involved'. 'It is unconscionable that this devastating war is entering its third year with no sign of resolution,' she said. Sudan has seen growing instability since longtime President Omar al-Bashir was removed from power in 2019 after months of anti-government protests. In October 2021, the Sudanese military staged a coup against the civilian government of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, leading to his resignation in early 2022. Sudan's army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and rival Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who leads the RSF, had shared power after the coup but then started fighting for control of the state and its resources in April 2023. Last week, the Sudanese Army accused the forces of eastern Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar of attacking Sudanese border posts, the first time it has charged its northwestern neighbour with direct involvement in the civil war. Egypt, which has also backed Haftar, has long supported the Sudanese Army. Sudan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused the United Arab Emirates of backing the RSF, which it denies.
LBCI
03-06-2025
- General
- LBCI
Five aid workers killed in Sudan attack on humanitarian convoy: UN
Five aid workers have been killed and several others wounded in an attack on a convoy delivering aid to western Sudan's besieged city of El-Fasher, the United Nations said Tuesday. The convoy organized by the World Food Program and UNICEF came under attack on Monday near Al-Koma village in North Darfur state, the U.N. agencies said in a joint statement, adding that "multiple trucks were burned and critical humanitarian supplies were damaged." AFP
The Guardian
03-06-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
‘Multiple casualties' reported after attack on UN aid convoy in Darfur
A UN aid convoy carrying critical food supplies to a famine-threatened city in western Sudan has been targeted in a brutal attack that appeared to have caused 'multiple casualties'. A number of trucks belonging to the UN's food and children's agencies were attacked as they headed towards El Fasher, capital of North Darfur, which has been besieged by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for more than a year. As details of the atrocity emerged, the UN's refugee agency confirmed the number of people who had fled the country since Sudan's civil war began had surpassed 4 million, and warned that the scale of displacement was 'putting regional and global stability at stake'. The attack on the aid convoy occurred about 45 miles (75km) from El Fasher, in Al Koma, a stronghold of the RSF. A spokesperson for the UN children's agency, Unicef, said: 'We have received information about a convoy with WFP [World Food Programme] and Unicef trucks being attacked last night while positioned in Al Koma, waiting for approval to proceed to El Fasher.' Al Koma was the location of another atrocity at the weekend, when an airstrike on a civilian market by the Sudanese army reportedly killed at least 89 people. Although the attackers of the convoy have not yet been officially identified, the area is firmly under the control of the RSF, with aid trucks forced to navigate a series of the paramilitary group's checkpoints to reach El Fasher. Last week the WFP expressed 'shock' after its premises in El Fasher were repeatedly shelled by the RSF. El Fasher is home to about 2 million people, including about 800,000 internally displaced persons who fled to the city from across Darfur and it remains the only one of five state capitals in the Darfur region not to fall under RSF control. In recent months, it has endured daily shelling amid an ever-tightening siege. Within the city itself, food supplies are running so low that the UN has warned of famine. Activists trapped within El Fasher have said thousands of people face starvation as essential foods and medicines disappear from markets because of the RSF's siege. Speaking to the activist network Avaaz several days ago, a volunteer called Adam said community kitchens in the city no longer had access to maize or wheat. 'We used to have goods coming in regularly through vehicles, but now the only goods that enter the city come on donkeys,' he said. 'For the entire city of El Fasher, we have no more than 10 donkeys that enter the city carrying goods per day. Even these people carrying limited supplies on their donkeys get questioned and interrogated at RSF [checkpoints].' The civil war, now in its third year, has caused the world's biggest humanitarian crisis. In addition to the 4 million people who have now fled Sudan, a record 11.6 million people have also been displaced within the country, about half of whom are in the Darfur region. Both the Sudanese army and the RSF have been accused of myriad war crimes and using starvation as a weapon of war.
Globe and Mail
03-06-2025
- General
- Globe and Mail
UN convoy attacked while delivering food to Sudan's al-Fashir, UNICEF says
A UN convoy delivering food into Sudan's al-Fashir in North Darfur came under attack overnight, a spokesperson for the UN children's agency told Reuters on Tuesday, adding that initial reports indicated 'multiple casualties.' 'We have received information about a convoy with WFP and UNICEF trucks being attacked last night while positioned in Al Koma, North Darfur, waiting for approval to proceed to al-Fashir,' UNICEF spokesperson Eva Hinds said in response to questions. She did not say who was responsible or elaborate on the reported casualties. Aid has frequently come under the crossfire in the two-year-old war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which has left more than half the population facing crisis levels of hunger. Sudan museum curators get first devastating look inside after two years of warfare In a statement, the RSF's aid commission blamed an air strike by the army, as did local activists. The army did not respond to a request for comment. Al Koma is controlled by the RSF, and earlier this week saw a drone strike that claimed several civilian lives, according to local activists. Famine conditions have previously been reported in al-Fashir, the capital of North Darfur. The fighting and barriers to the delivery of aid put in place by both sides have cut off supplies. The attack is the latest of several assaults on aid in recent days. It follows the repeated shelling of UN World Food Program premises in al-Fashir by the RSF and an attack on El Obeid hospital in North Kordofan that killed several medics late last month.
