Aid groups suspend operations amid violence in Sudan

Heavy gunfire, airstrikes, and explosions erupted across Sudan over the weekend, including in crowded neighborhoods across its capital Khartoum. The clashes, between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, have led to the death of nearly 100 people and injuries to some 1,100. In 2019, a popular revolution led to the toppling of the country’s autocratic ruler President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, which led to a transitional government and then a military coup in 2021. While a framework was agreed upon last December to guide the country toward a civilian-led government, the power struggle between two rival generals is now raising concerns of a civil war. Amid international calls for cessation of violence, aid organizations said the fighting has forced them to suspend operations. Cindy McCain, the executive director of the World Food Programme, said over the weekend the organization was temporarily halting all of its operations in Sudan. Three of its employees were killed on Saturday when violence broke out in Kabkabiya, North Darfur, and two other employees were injured. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the staff were part of a group that was being escorted by the Sudanese Armed Forces and were attacked by the Rapid Support Forces at a military base. McCain also said a WFP-managed U.N. Humanitarian Air Service aircraft was “significantly damaged” by gunfire on Saturday at the airport in Khartoum which affects the ability of the organization to move aid workers and aid within the country. OCHA said that unconfirmed reports indicate that the plane that was damaged is the only fixed-wing UNHAS plane still in service, following a funding shortage. “Aid workers should never be a target. All parties in #Sudan must come to an agreement that ensures the safety of humanitarian staff — and enables @WFP & partners to deliver the life-saving humanitarian assistance that the people of Sudan so desperately need,” McCain tweeted. Relief International also announced that Ibrahim Suliman, a finance officer with the NGO, was killed during clashes in El Fasher, the capital city of North Darfur. The International Rescue Committee also said the fighting drove the organization to stop its operations in the country, except for the Tunaydbah refugee camp which is host to people who have fled conflict in northern Ethiopia. “Conflict has disrupted humanitarian action where over a third of the population, an estimated 15 million people including refugees, are experiencing acute food insecurity,” Kurt Tjossem, IRC regional vice president for East Africa, said in a press release. Khartoum residents have been forced to hunker down in place as violence engulfed the city. The World Health Organization said violence has made it difficult for health workers and ambulances to reach health facilities, and health supplies it delivered in the country before the eruption in violence have been exhausted. Nine hospitals in Khartoum that are taking in injured civilians are reporting “shortages of blood, transfusion equipment, intravenous fluids, medical supplies and other life-saving commodities,” it said. There are also shortages of specialized health workers, including anaesthesiologists, and facilities are facing water and electricity cuts.