Over 135,000 people displaced by violence in Al Jazirah State: OCHA

November 3, 2024 (PORT SUDAN) – At least 135,400 people were displaced from various locations in Al Jazirah State following a wave of armed violence and attacks on over 30 villages and towns in parts of the state since 20 October, the United Nations said in a statement.

The newly displaced people, according to the UN humanitarian agency (OCHA), have arrived in 16 localities in Gedaref, Kassala and River Nile states amid reports of missing, unaccompanied or separated children among displaced people as well as children with multiple gunshot injuries.

There have also been reports of arbitrary arrests and detention of children in parts of Al Jazirah.

“The main needs of the displaced people from Aj Jazirah are food, shelter, essential household supplies, access to safe water, sanitation, health, and protection services,” OCHA noted.

The agency, however, said humanitarian partners are providing hot meals, food rations, health, water, sanitation and other services to thousands of displaced people in Gedaref and Kassala states.

Separately, a group of 70 international NGOs working in Sudan, said the escalation of hostilities in eastern Aj Jazirah State was marked by some of the most extreme violence in the past 18 months.

The Forum urged the international community to act on the UN Secretary-General’s call for decisive action to protect civilians and ensure safe and unfettered aid delivery across Sudan.

Sudan plunged into a conflict of alarming scale in mid-April 2023 when fierce fighting between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) broke out in Khartoum,  but quickly expanded to other areas across the country.

The conflict has only exacerbated these conditions, leaving more than half of Sudan’s population in need. The war conflict has also forced millions of people to flee their homes, leaving more than 12 million Sudanese people displaced.

(ST)