Showing posts with label MSF. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MSF. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 13, 2025

Sudan: Starving children dying. Rare footage shows plight of civilians in besieged El Fasher, North Darfur

INTERNATIONAL NGOs working in Sudan issued an urgent statement this week declaring that "sustained attacks, obstruction of aid and targeting of critical infrastructure demonstrate a deliberate strategy to break the civilian population through hunger, fear, and exhaustion".


They said that "anecdotal reports of recent food hoarding for military use add to the suffering of civilians". Read more in the following report.


From BBC News
By Barbara Plett Usher
Africa correspondent, BBC News
Dated Wednesday, 13 August 2025 - full copy:

 'Our children are dying' - rare footage shows plight of civilians in besieged Sudan city

01:23

Media caption,

WATCH: BBC obtains rare video from inside besieged el-Fasher in Sudan


The women at the community kitchen in the besieged Sudanese city of el-Fasher are sitting in huddles of desperation.


"Our children are dying before our eyes," one of them tells the BBC.


"We don't know what to do. They are innocent. They have nothing to do with the army or [its paramilitary rival] the Rapid Support Forces. Our suffering is worse than what you can imagine."


Food is so scarce in el-Fasher that prices have soared to the point where money that used to cover a week's worth of meals can now buy only one. International aid organisations have condemned the "calculated use of starvation as a weapon of war".


The BBC has obtained rare footage of people still trapped in the city, sent to us by a local activist and filmed by a freelance cameraman.


The Sudanese army has been battling the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for more than two years after their commanders jointly staged a coup, and then fell out.


El-Fasher, in the western Darfur region, is one of the most brutal frontlines in the conflict.

Image caption, This may be the only meal these children get for a day


The hunger crisis is compounded by a surge of cholera sweeping through the squalid camps of those displaced by the fighting, which escalated this week into one of the most intense RSF attacks on the city yet.


The paramilitaries tightened their 14-month blockade after losing control of the capital Khartoum earlier this year, and stepped up their battle for el-Fasher, the last foothold of the armed forces in Darfur.


In the north and centre of the country where the army has wrestled back territory from the RSF, food and medical aid have begun to make a dent in civilian suffering.


But the situation is desperate in the conflict zones of western and southern Sudan.


At the Matbakh-al-Khair communal kitchen in el-Fasher late last month, volunteers turned ambaz into a porridge. This is the residue of peanuts after the oil has been extracted, normally fed to animals.


Sometimes it is possible to find sorghum or millet but on the day of filming, the kitchen manager says: "There is no flour or bread."


"Now we've reached the point of eating ambaz. May God relieve us of this calamity, there's nothing left in the market to buy," he adds.


The UN has amplified its appeal for a humanitarian pause to allow food convoys into the city, with its Sudan envoy Sheldon Yett once more demanding this week that the warring sides observe their obligations under international law.


The army has given clearance for the trucks to proceed but the UN is still waiting for official word from the paramilitary group.


RSF advisers have said they believed the truce would be used to facilitate the delivery of food and ammunition to the army's "besieged militias" inside el-Fasher.


They have also claimed the paramilitary group and its allies were setting up "safe routes" for civilians to leave the city.


Local responders in el-Fasher can receive some emergency cash via a digital banking system, but it does not go very far.


"The prices in the markets have exploded," says Mathilde Vu, advocacy manager for the Norwegian Refugee Council.


"Today, $5,000 [£3,680] covers one meal for 1,500 people in a single day. Three months ago, the same amount could feed them for an entire week."


Doctors say people are dying of malnutrition. It is impossible to know how many - one report quoting a regional health official put the number at more than 60 last week.

BBC "The situation, it is so miserable, it is so catastrophic" -Ibrahim Abdullah Khater, Paediatrician


Hospitals cannot cope. Few are still operating. They have been damaged by shelling and are short of medical supplies to help both the starving, and those injured in the continual bombardment.


"We have many malnourished children admitted in hospital but unfortunately there is no single sachet of [therapeutic food]," says Dr Ibrahim Abdullah Khater, a paediatrician at the Al Saudi Hospital, noting that the five severely malnourished children currently in the ward also have medical complications.


"They are just waiting for their death," he says.


When hunger crises hit, those who usually die first are the most vulnerable, the least healthy or those suffering from pre-existing conditions.


"The situation, it is so miserable, it is so catastrophic," the doctor tells us in a voice message.


"The children of el-Fasher are dying on a daily basis due to lack of food, lack of medicine. Unfortunately, the international community is just watching."


International non-governmental organisations working in Sudan issued an urgent statement, external this week declaring that "sustained attacks, obstruction of aid and targeting of critical infrastructure demonstrate a deliberate strategy to break the civilian population through hunger, fear, and exhaustion".


They said that "anecdotal reports of recent food hoarding for military use add to the suffering of civilians".


"There is no safe passage out of the city, with roads blocked and those attempting to flee facing attacks, taxation at checkpoints, community-based discrimination and death," the organisations said.


Hundreds of thousands of people did flee in recent months, many from the Zamzam displaced persons camp at the edge of el-Fasher, seized by the RSF in April.


They arrive in Tawila, a town 60km (37 miles) west of the city, weak and dehydrated, with accounts of violence and extortion along the road from RSF-allied groups.


Life is safer in the crowded camps, but they are stalked by disease - most deadly of all: cholera.


It is caused by polluted water and has killed hundreds in Sudan, triggered by the destruction of water infrastructure and lack of food and medical care, and made worse by flooding due to the rainy season.

Image caption, Makeshift centres have been built to treat patients who have cholera


Unlike el-Fasher, in Tawila aid workers at least have access, but their supplies are limited, says John Joseph Ocheibi, the on-site project coordinator for a group called The Alliance for International Medical Action.


"We have shortages in terms of [washing facilities], in terms of medical supplies, to be able to deal with this situation," he tells the BBC. "We are mobilizing resources to see how best we can be able to respond."


Sylvain Penicaud of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) estimates there are only three litres of water per person per day in the camps, which, he says, is "way below the basic need, and forces people to get water from contaminated sources".


Zubaida Ismail Ishaq is lying in the tent clinic. She is seven months pregnant, gaunt and exhausted. Her story is a tale of trauma told by many.


She tells us she used to trade when she had a little money, before fleeing el-Fasher.


Her husband was captured by armed men on the road to Tawila. Her daughter has a head injury.


Zubaida and her mother came down with cholera shortly after arriving in the camp.


"We drink water without boiling it," she says. "We have no-one to get us water. Since coming here, I have nothing left."


Back in el-Fasher we hear appeals for help from the women clustered at the soup kitchen - any kind of help.


"We're exhausted. We want this siege lifted," says Faiza Abkar Mohammed. "Even if they airdrop food, airdrop anything - we're completely exhausted."


Sudan war: A simple guide to what is happening


You may also be interested in:

'I lost a baby and then rescued a child dodging air strikes in Sudan's civil war'
Oil-rich Sudanese region becomes new focus of war between army and rival forces
Sudan in danger of self-destructing as conflict and famine reign


View original: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czxp0qyn6dqo


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Tuesday, May 06, 2025

Drone attacks in Sudan's Port Sudan and Kassala. MSF hospital attack in South Sudan was deliberate says UN

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: A year or so ago, I saw credible reports saying Janjaweed RSF militia plan to take Khartoum, Darfur, Port Sudan. I documented them at Sudan Watch but don't have time to find them now. 

The following reports regarding a series of attacks over past three days on Sudan's Port Sudan/ International Airport and Kassala Airport, plus a market and MSF hospital in South Sudan's Jonglei, succeeded in creating a new round of explosive headlines and complex humanitarian needs and aid.

In my view, they are not a coincidence. A nagging feeling I am unable to shake off tells me the US is pulling strings behind the scenes. Hundreds of ruthless US civilians are financially invested, particularly in South Sudan.
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VIDEO REPORT from Channel 4 News
By Lindsey Hilsum International Editor
Dated Tuesday, 06 May 2025 - full copy:

PORT SUDAN ROCKED BY MULTIPLE EXPLOSIONS
Sudan war latest: who was behind Port Sudan attacks?


Multiple explosions have rocked the Sudanese city of Port Sudan for a third day as paramilitary rebels target government forces.


The Red Sea city has become a refuge for hundreds of thousands of people fleeing the civil war.


The two-year conflict between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has already created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.


The attacks on the port have led to power cuts and represent a new front in the fighting as it had not been targeted before this month.



YouTube link: https://youtu.be/cQHh0HqRmVA

Channel 4 is a British public broadcast service

Source: https://www.channel4.com/news/sudan-war-latest-who-was-behind-port-sudan-attacks

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Related


Report from BBC

Dated Tuesday, 06 May 2025 - excerpt:

Sudan paramilitary attacks leave key city without power

Drone strikes have hit a major power station in the Sudanese city of Port Sudan causing a "complete power outage", the country's electricity provider said. Flights have been cancelled after drones hit the international airport and a hotel near the current presidential palace, reports say.

Full story: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx20x8g2nego

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Report from ReliefWeb

By UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)

Dated Tuesday, 06 May 2025 - full copy:

Port Sudan drone attacks: A call to protect civilian infrastructure - Statement by the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami


(Port Sudan, 6 May 2025) I am shocked and deeply concerned by intensifying drone attacks on civilian infrastructure in Port Sudan, the main humanitarian hub within Sudan. In the early morning hours of 6 May 2025, drone attacks reportedly the Port Sudan International Airport and other infrastructure – including a fuel storage facility and a power transformer – in Port Sudan.


Such attacks will deepen humanitarian suffering and needs, as well as exacerbate the already severe access and logistical challenges that humanitarian actors face in the delivery of urgently needed aid to the rest of the country.


The Port Sudan International Airport is a lifeline for humanitarian operations, serving as the primary entry point for aid personnel, medical supplies, and other life-saving relief into Sudan. Moreover, the availability of fuel in Port Sudan is critical to the dispatch of humanitarian supplies to areas across Sudan in dire need of assistance. Damage to critical infrastructure could also disrupt supply chains and increase the price of basic goods, further exacerbating human suffering in what is already the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.


These latest strikes follow a series of drone attacks over the past days on civilian infrastructure in Port Sudan and Kassala, cities that have largely represented safe locations for civilians who have been displaced multiple times throughout this devastating conflict. Recent attacks on the Kassala Airport in eastern Sudan has forced displaced individuals – who had sought refuge in a gathering site near the airport – to move once again.


Since January 2025, attacks on infrastructure such as power stations, water sub-stations, and oil refineries across the country have caused widespread electricity outages and disrupted access to essential rights and services, including safe drinking water for civilians, healthcare and food supplies.


These attacks are serious violations of international humanitarian law, which prohibits the targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure. They reflect a consistent failure to comply with the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution.


Every measure must be taken to spare civilians and civilian objects.


Once again, I call on all those involved in this conflict to cease hostilities.


View original: https://reliefweb.int/report/sudan/port-sudan-drone-attacks-call-protect-civilian-infrastructure-statement-united-nations-resident-and-humanitarian-coordinator-sudan-clementine-nkweta-salami

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Report from IOM-DTM

Dated Tuesday, 06 May 2025 - excerpt:

DTM Sudan Flash Alert: Port Sudan (Port Sudan town), Red Sea
Between 5 and 6 May 2025, DTM field teams reported that approximately 120 households were displaced from Transit and Al Shahinat neighbourhoods in Port Sudan town of Port Sudan locality, Red Sea due to increased insecurity following air drone attacks. Households were displaced primarily to locations within Port Sudan locality, Red Sea. 

View original: https://mailchi.mp/iom/dtm-sudan-flash-alert-port-sudan-port-sudan-town-red-sea-update-001

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Report from BBC News

By Will Ross, Africa regional editor

and Natasha Booty, BBC News - excerpt:

Seven killed in South Sudan hospital and market bombing, charity says
MSF shared a picture which showed part of the hospital on fire


At least seven people have been killed after a hospital and market were bombed in South Sudan, a medical charity has said, as fears grow of a return to civil war.


Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said helicopter gunships dropped a bomb on the pharmacy of the hospital it runs in Old Fangak, Jonglei state, burning it down, before firing on the town for 30 minutes. A drone then bombed a local market, MSF said.


The hospital is the only one in Fangak county, which has a population of more than 110,000 people, MSF said, and all its medical supplies were destroyed.


The charity called the attack, which left 20 people injured, a "clear violation of international humanitarian law".


MSF spokesman Mamman Mustapha told the BBC's Newshour programme the charity was still trying to establish the facts, but local witnesses had said the aircraft were "government forces helicopters".


"The hospital is clearly marked as 'hospital' with our logo," he said. "We have shared also our coordinates for all the warring parties in the area so the hospital should be known to both parties as a hospital."


Full story: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm2536m9r2eo

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