Port Sudan, February 6(Darfur24)
The United Nations announced today, Thursday, that the states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile are on the brink of disaster as violence continues to escalate at an alarming rate.
The UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Clementine Nkweta Salami, said in a press statement that the outbreak of fighting in Kadugli, South Kordofan, led to the killing of at least 80 civilians and the injury of dozens.
The statement added, “I condemn the reports of the use of women and children as human shields in Kadugli, the obstruction of humanitarian aid, and the arrest of civilians, including children.”
The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, led by Abdelaziz Al-Hilu, announced on Tuesday that it had repelled an attack by the Sudanese army in which citizens were used as human shields after they were forcibly displaced from within the neighborhoods of Kadugli to the “Hajar Al-Mak” area near its areas of control and placed in the line of fire, according to the movement’s statement.
In Blue Nile State, the UN Coordinator stressed that humanitarian needs also remain critical, as the threat of violence and reports of mass mobilization for conflict threaten to escalate further.
She added in her statement that the worsening insecurity threatens to push the two states, “Juba and Port Sudan,” into a deeper crisis, as civilians have long been cut off from life-saving assistance and basic services due to severe shortages of medical supplies, limited humanitarian access, and ongoing conflict.
She said, “This is a critical moment, as the consequences of food insecurity are already being felt in parts of South Kordofan, where families are living on dangerously limited food supplies, and malnutrition rates are rising sharply.”
The statement stressed that if the fighting continues, more people will be unable to access vital assistance, humanitarian suffering will worsen, and more lives will be lost.
Salami continued, “All parties to the conflict must de-escalate tensions and protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, in line with their obligations under international humanitarian law, and they must allow humanitarian organizations safe and unfettered access to those most in need.”
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