Sudan: WHO concerned over “horrific”attacks in El Fasher
June 24, 2024 (KHARTOUM) – The World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed concern over the horrific attacks in Sudan’s North Darfur state capital, El Fasher after an attack on a maternity hospital claimed the life of a pharmacy worker.
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group fighting the Sudanese military (SAF), was accused of bombing the only maternity hospital in El Fasher.
The WHO Director General, Tedros Ghebreyesus, described the attack as “shocking and appalling,” calling on the warring parties to “protect mothers and children at all times and allow them safe access to healthcare” in the country.
Since mid-April last year, fighting between rival factions in Sudan has killed thousands and displaced nearly 10 million people, according to aid agencies.
In recent weeks, calls from the UN and the international community have grown to prevent Sudan from falling into a humanitarian catastrophe that could push millions into starvation, due to food shortages caused by fighting in 12 of its states.
The UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami said pharmacist Amna Ahmed Bakhit was killed while prescribing and administering medicine to women, men and children in a place that should have been safe.
“From bullets or bombs, starvation or disease, each soul lost to this senseless war takes Sudan another inexorable step away from what we all want. Peace,” she posted on X, calling for an end to the brutal fighting ongoing in Sudan.
According to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), people in parts of Khartoum, Darfur and Kordofan states continue to be deprived of food and health assistance, and child malnutrition in Sudan is reaching emergency levels.
Around nine million children are facing acute food insecurity, the agency said.
Meanwhile, the World Food Programme’s (WFP) food security analysis has identified 44 hunger hotspots in Sudan, mainly in areas of active fighting such as Khartoum, Kordofan, Darfur and Gezira where 2.6 million people are at high risk of falling into the extreme phase five of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC 5).
As such, the UN emergency food assistance agency is reportedly scaling up its operations to stave off famine. The agency says it has reached more than three million people and plans to reach an additional five million through general food assistance, nutrition, school meals and resilience activities throughout the year.
(ST)