On April 30, the Sudanese army and its rival paramilitary forces announced that they would extend a humanitarian ceasefire for 72 hours. The decision follows international pressure to allow the safe passage of civilians and aid, but a shaky ceasefire has so far failed to halt the clashes.
The nation’s army and its paramilitary group started fighting on April 15, and it now appears like Sudan will soon be plunged into a bloody civil war.
According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which coordinated the shipment, an aeroplane carrying eight tonnes of urgent medical supplies had already landed in Sudan earlier on Sunday to restock hospitals that had been badly damaged by the conflict. It arrived as the number of civilian fatalities from the widespread violence reached 400.
According to a national doctors’ group, more than two-thirds of hospitals in places where combat is ongoing are inoperable due to a lack of medical supplies, healthcare professionals, water, and electricity.
The ICRC stated that the supplies, which include anaesthetics, bandages, sutures, and other surgical supplies, are sufficient to treat more than 1,000 combat casualties. It said the plane arrived in Port Sudan safely after departing from Jordan earlier in the day.
In the last two weeks, 425 people have died and 2,091 have been injured, according to the Sudan Doctors’ Syndicate, which keeps track of casualties. In total, 528 people have died, including fighters, according to the Sudanese Health Ministry. 4,500 people have also been injured.
Decades of hospital closures have brought Sudan’s healthcare system dangerously close to dissolution. The evacuation of staff members and suspension of operations by numerous relief organisations.
A U.S. vessel also landed in Port Sudan on Sunday to evacuate more Americans, according to footage from the Saudi-owned al-Arabiya TV network.
Dual U.S.-Sudanese nationals make up the majority of the approximately 16,000 Americans who are currently thought to be in Sudan. According to a statement released by the Defence Department on Saturday, naval forces were being moved towards the coast of Sudan to help additional evacuations.
British nationals who want to leave Sudan were urged by the authorities to arrive at the British Evacuation Handling Centre at Port Sudan International Airport before noon Sudan time. The trip comes after a 23-flight evacuation of 2,122 people from Wadi Saeedna, close to Khartoum.
According to his spokesman, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is dispatching an envoy to the Sudan region in light of the “unprecedented” circumstances there.
Martin Griffiths, the U.N. emergency relief coordinator, will be sent “to the region immediately” due to the “rapidly worsening humanitarian crisis in Sudan,” according to spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
According to the statement, “the scale and pace of what is unfolding is unprecedented in Sudan.” “We are deeply worried.”
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