Over 600 people have died, according to the World Health Organization, in Sudan’s bloody battle that has lasted for almost a month.
The combat between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, led by General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, and the Sudanese military, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has resulted in more than 5,000 other injuries, according to the U.N. health agency on Tuesday.
Following the 2019 overthrow of longtime leader Omar al-Bashir, the two generals, who were once allies, planned an October 2021 military coup that stalled a transition to civilian administration.
Conflicts about who should manage the RSF’s integration into the army and how it should be done have been escalating between the generals. The military was reorganized as part of an effort to put an end to the political turmoil brought on by the military coup in 2021 and return the nation to civilian control.
Numerous cease-fire agreements haven’t been able to put an end to the fighting or even significantly lessen the violence.
To reach the hundreds of thousands in need of food, housing, and medical attention in Khartoum and other Sudanese cities, envoys from the two sides have been negotiating in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for several days.
More than twice as many Sudanese have left their homes since the unrest began last month, according to the United Nations refugee agency, which reported 334,000 as internal displacement last week.
According to the IOM, 100,000 more Sudanese have left the nation.
Due to the absence of security, the majority of humanitarian operations have been halted or drastically reduced. There have been fatalities among the aid personnel.
Aid missions have also been impeded by looting. The World Food Program said that between $13 million and $14 million worth of food had been taken from its warehouses located throughout Sudan.
Up to 2.5 million more people in Sudan are “expected to slip into hunger” in the near future, according to the WFP, which stated this on Wednesday. According to the U.N. agency, this would cause Sudan’s severe food insecurity to reach all-time highs.
According to the WFP, more over 19 million people, or two-fifths of Sudan’s population, are currently impacted.
