UN accuses Sudan paramilitaries of blocking Darfur aid
A child and a woman wait next to their belongings as people displaced by the ongoing war in Sudan return to Wad Madani in the Jazira state, on February 6, 2025, after the city was retaken by the Sudanese army from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitaries. (Photo by AFP)
The RSF, which has been at war with the regular army since April 2023, controls nearly all of Darfur, a western region the size of France.
Since May, the paramilitaries have besieged the North Darfur state capital of El-Fasher and attacked displacement camps nearby.
"The persistent restrictions and bureaucratic hurdles" imposed by the RSF's humanitarian agency "are preventing life-saving assistance from reaching those in desperate need," said Clementine Nkweta-Salami, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Sudan.
"The world is watching, and it is unacceptable that the humanitarian community in Sudan... is unable to deliver essential aid," she said in a statement.
Famine has been declared in three areas of North Darfur and is projected to spread to five more by May, according to the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification.
Nearly seven million people in Darfur are facing crisis levels of hunger, IPC figures show.
The UN on Monday urged simplified bureaucratic procedures and an end to undue interference, "including demands for logistical support or mandatory engagement with selected vendors".
Since the war began, humanitarian workers have reported obstruction by both sides, looting of aid and threats against relief staff.
On Monday, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said that one of its Sudanese volunteers was among dozens killed in an RSF attack earlier this month on a market in Khartoum's twin city of Omdurman.
It said that the volunteer had been killed "while participating in... a cleaning campaign" at the market, which was hit by RSF artillery fire.
At least 60 people were killed and more than 150 others wounded in the bombardment.
Both the army and the RSF have been repeatedly accused of targeting civilians and indiscriminately shelling residential areas and medical facilities.
The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people, uprooted 12 million and created the world's largest hunger and displacement crises.
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