The World Food Programme, a United Nations body, announced the temporary suspension of the food assistance it provided in some towns in the Sudanese state of Al-Jazirah, on which around 800,000 people in the area depend. The pause in assistance comes after the Rapid Support Forces (FAR) militia managed to take control of Al-Jazirah's capital, Wad Madani, causing an exodus of more than 300,000 civilians, according to the United Nations.
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Eight months later, the war in Sudan continues and the humanitarian crisis continues to worsen within the third largest African country in the region. Through a statement from its representative in Sudan, Eddie Rowe, the World Food Program (WFP) confirmed that it will stop the supply of food to different parts of Al-Jazirah, a vital agricultural state for the country, although it assured that they work “without break to provide food aid where it is still possible.
At the same time, other humanitarian organizations dependent on the UN have expressed their concerns about the increase in people displaced by the conflict between the Sudanese Army and the FAR. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) warned that, in recent days alone, more than 300,000 people have gone into exile from Wad Madani, the second most important city after the capital.
“This is a tragedy of immense proportions, which aggravates the humanitarian crisis that the country was already suffering,” said Amy Pope, director general of the IOM, who highlighted that many of the displaced civilians have sought refuge in cities near Wad Madani. , which are still controlled by the Army, or crossed the border towards South Sudan.
Until the FAR incursion, Wad Madani had served as a safe city to shelter some of the 7.1 million people displaced by the conflict, according to IOM figures. For this reason, the Red Cross also called on the military forces of both sides to avoid civilian casualties in their clashes, as has already happened in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital.
“We fear that Wad Madani, until now considered a safe haven for those fleeing extreme violence in Khartoum, will become another death trap,” said Pierre Dorbes, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross delegation in Sudan.
The UN warns of an increase in ethnic violence in the conflict
Although the war had purely political objectives in its beginnings, attacks with ethnic overtones have been increasing throughout the country. Through a statement, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, expressed his fears about an increase in ethnic confrontations within Sudan, also warning about constant reports of human rights violations in the conflict.
“Dozens of civilians, including medical personnel, were killed and many others injured between December 15 and 19, and some of these attacks were ethnically motivated,” Türk stressed in his statement.
The United Nations official added that his office has received multiple reports of mutilations, sexual assaults and extrajudicial murders, perpetrated by both sides, against hundreds of civilians, many for ethnic and racial reasons.
The UN warnings join the testimonies of exiled civilians from Wad Madani, who seek to avoid the massacres experienced in the Darfur region in recent weeks and who remember the hostilities of the Janjaweed, an Arab militia group accused of perpetrating crimes against humanity in Sudan in the early 2000s and eventually evolved into the current FAR.
“They bombed the village and took the houses of the residents, as they did in Darfur (…) We fled for fear of being killed or having our women raped by the Janjaweed,” said Ahmed Tag el-Sir, a resident of Wad Madani and exile in the neighboring province of Al-Qadarif.
The entry of the FAR into Wad Madani, a critical point in the war
At the beginning of the week, the Sudanese rebel group entered Wad Madani, located about 170 kilometers southeast of the capital, confirming their stay through videos in which fighters celebrate by shooting in the air and showing burned buildings.
As a result of the FAR takeover, the Sudanese Army published a statement on December 19, in which it confirmed the withdrawal of government troops from their positions in Wad Madani, adding that they undertake to investigate the reasons for the withdrawal. suggesting that the decision does not come from an order from the highest military levels in Khartoum.
In addition to experiencing the worst exile today, Sudan continues to experience the intensification of fighting between both sides, which has left a death toll of at least 9,000 people dead, according to United Nations figures, although some activists and non-governmental organizations within of the country argue that the real figure could be much higher.
With AP, EFE and Reuters
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