UN decries deadly Sudan attack, warns of deepening Darfur health crisis
July 25, 2025 (UNITED NATIONS) – Dozens of civilians were killed in an attack in Sudan’s West Kordofan region, the United Nations said on Thursday, as it warned of a deepening humanitarian crisis with a cholera outbreak and critical shortages in the separate, strife-torn Darfur region.
UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said the attack on Wednesday in the Brima Rashid area saw fighters in combat vehicles open fire indiscriminately on homes and a market.
Citing a Sudanese doctors’ association, Haq said some 30 people were killed and more than 40 were seriously injured. Women, children, and the elderly were among the casualties, and medical sources reported an urgent need for surgical care for the wounded.
The UN’s humanitarian office (OCHA) is alarmed by the violence, which it said “underscores the growing risks facing civilians”. It highlights the need for a ceasefire and safe access for aid.
The violence comes as the UN warns of a separate, rapidly worsening crisis in the Tawila locality of North Darfur, which hosts hundreds of thousands of people who have fled fierce fighting in and around El Fasher.
Humanitarian partners report a “dire situation” in Tawila, where a cholera outbreak is spreading. Water supplies are meeting only about half of the need, and the sanitation ratio has fallen to a critically low one latrine for every 150 people.
“Many emergency latrines are collapsing, with no funding available for de-sludging or replacement,” Haq said.
This week, the UN launched an appeal for $120 million to fund an emergency response for Tawila to scale up life-saving support.
In a rare positive development from the country, a recent nutrition campaign in Sudan’s Northern State led by the U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reached more than % of its targeted ,000 children and ,000 pregnant women.
The campaign identified nearly ,000 cases of acute malnutrition, prompting the dispatch of mobile clinics to sites receiving a continued influx of people fleeing the conflict in North Darfur.