Monday, December 18, 2023

Sudan: Hundreds of thousands who fled Khartoum warfare & airstrikes are now facing it in Wad Madani

__________________________

Thousands flee Wad Madani, Sudan's second city, to escape fighting
Click here to view the above report at The Guardian online
Written by Zeinab Mohammed Salih in Khartoum 
Dated Saturday, 16 December 2023 17.58 GMT - excerpt:

In Djibouti last weekend the two warring sides committed to pursuing a ceasefire under the Intergovernmental Authority on Development’s facilitation, an east African political body, but the army on Thursday bombed the city of Neyala, the capital of South Darfur state, killing many people, among them several civilians. Neyala is now being controlled by the RSF after intense fighting that lasted for months. Three other major states have fallen under the RSF, leaving only North Darfur under the army control.

Several aid organisations have suspended their work in Madani, which had become a hub for humanitarian work after war broke out in Khartoum, following the latest developments.

“We have paused our work in Wad Madani while conflict has erupted there, we will resume as soon as possible,” said William Carter, the country director of the Norwegian Refugee Council.

“The numbers of people displaced are already in their thousands, and likely to grow as the fighting continues. We’ve dispatched emergency response teams to areas that people are fleeing to, such as Sennar and Gedaref states.

“This is a terrible turn of events. Hundreds of thousands of people who fled from urban warfare and airstrikes in Khartoum are now facing this all again in a place they thought was safe.”

A boy displaced by the conflict in Wad Madani walks with his belongings on 16 December. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

END

No comments: