Sudan UN: Many dead from attacks on civilians in Darfur
In the conflict in Sudan, hundreds of people have been killed in the seven-month-long battle for the capital of the state of North Darfur alone. In a report, the United Nations spoke of at least 782 dead and more than 1143 injured in El Fasher.
20.12.2024, 12:27
SDA
For the report, 52 people who had fled the town were interviewed. According to them, densely populated residential areas are regularly and intensively shelled and also attacked from the air. The interviewees' statements were confirmed by several other independent sources.
Bloody power struggle since April 2023
A bloody power struggle between de facto ruler Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo has been raging in Sudan in the Horn of Africa since April 2023. Daglo's militia RSF controls most of Darfur; El Fascher is the last major city where the government is still in control. More than eleven million people have fled the nationwide fighting, around half of them children and young people.
Thousands of residents of El Fasher are affected by the siege by the conflict parties. Anyone trying to leave the city is exposed to indiscriminate attacks from both sides.
UN: International humanitarian law is being disregarded
The parties to the conflict have been disregarding international humanitarian law and human rights for months. These actions "could constitute war crimes", warned Li Fung, the representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Sudan.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk called for an end to the siege of El Fasher. The situation will increase the suffering of the civilian population to "a catastrophic level and further exacerbate the already catastrophic humanitarian situation, including famine," said Türk.
