Opposing armed groups threaten key W Sudan city, blocking aid delivery to hungry thousands: UN

New York [US], April 27: The maneuvering of opposing armed forces in western Sudan is raising tensions, blocking aid to thousands of people and creating a horrifying situation for civilians, UN humanitarians said on Friday.
"The toll on humans is horrifying, the latest tensions resulted in the displacement of 40,000 men, women and children over the past two weeks," said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The situation effectively cuts off humanitarian access to El Fasher, a critical crossroads city.
OCHA said aid deliveries have to transit El Fasher in order to reach other parts of Darfur, including aid shipments from neighboring Chad and via a northern route from Port Sudan, on the Red Sea.
The office said more than a dozen trucks with lifesaving supplies for 122,000 people stranded in Ad Dabbah in neighboring Northern State cannot move to El Fasher due to insecurity and a lack of guarantees for safe passage.
"Internally displaced people are particularly at risk, including those in Zamzam camp in North Darfur state, where there have been alarming reports of acute hunger and malnutrition in recent months," the humanitarians said.
Stephane Dujarric, chief spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said the world body is receiving "increasingly alarming reports of a dramatic escalation of tensions between armed groups in El Fasher."
"The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are reportedly encircling the city, suggesting that a coordinated move to attack the city may be imminent," Dujarric said. "Simultaneously, the Sudanese Armed Forces appear to be positioning themselves," against the RSF.
He said an attack on El Fasher "would have devastating consequences for the civilian population, in an area already on the brink of famine."
"The secretary-general's personal envoy, Ramtane Lamamra, is engaging with the parties to de-escalate tensions there," Dujarric said, adding that Guterres last week reiterated his call on all parties to refrain from fighting in the El Fasher area.
The spokesman also said the high commissioner for human rights, Volker Turk, earlier on Friday expressed his grave concerns: "He stated that at least 43 people, among them women and children, were killed as fighting was taking place between the two rival forces -- backed by their respective allied militia -- since April 14."
Source: Xinhua