Children in a reception centre in El Fasher, Northern Darfur, sit in the shade.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said a hospital in Sudan's Northern Darfur state was damaged amid intense hostilities, killing two young people and reigniting fears of famine.
Currently, about 800,000 people live in and around the town of El Fasher. The destruction of the roof of the intensive care unit of Southern Hospital in the town of El Fasher, the only functioning hospital in Northern Darfur, where medical supplies are desperately scarce.
Griffiths, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, said on social media late Sunday: "Sudan is at a tipping point. Countless lives are at stake. ”
Important cities are at stake
In an updated report on hostilities, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that heavy fighting between Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) soldiers resumed last Friday in and around the city of El Fasher, extending to town centres, outskirts of major markets and residential areas, resulting in dozens of civilian deaths. It is reported that this is the only remaining city in Northern Darfur that has not yet been controlled by the Rapid Support Forces.
The latest bloodshed follows warnings from humanitarian agencies that months of escalating violence around the town of El Fasher have severely hampered the continued flow of aid and basic commodities, "pushing people to the brink of famine."
Nearly 25 million people are in need
Nearly half of the Sudan's population, or 24.8 million people, need help from the United Nations and aid partners. In Darfur alone, some 9 million people are now in need of humanitarian assistance.
The latest assessment of hunger levels across Sudan in late March showed that 17.7 million Sudanese face acute food insecurity or worse.
Experts warn that 4.9 million of them are included in the fifth phase of the Integrated Classification of Food Security Phases, which is "on the verge of famine". Nearly 90 per cent of those classified as Phase 4 (emergency) live in conflict-affected areas such as Darfur, Kordofan, Khartoum and Jezira. Food insecurity is expected to worsen further with the arrival of the lean harvest season, which begins in April.
The lives of millions of people have been disrupted
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and UNHCR, some 570,000 people have been displaced in Northern Darfur over the past 13 months. Across Sudan, 6.7 million people are internally displaced, while 1.8 million have fled to other countries.
Prior to reports of new clashes erupting in and around the town of El Fasher last Sunday, OCHA had said that large numbers of people had moved from the east and north-west to the south.
Media reports quoted the medical director of El Fasher Township Hospital as saying that patients were treated in all available spaces within the hospital, including on balconies. The Director shared concern about the damage to medical equipment and supplies, noting that a key supply line to the rest of the Sudan had been cut off by the Rapid Support Forces.
