{"id":20086797,"date":"2024-05-27T13:22:57","date_gmt":"2024-05-27T11:22:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dabangasudan.org\/?p=20086797"},"modified":"2024-07-10T11:36:20","modified_gmt":"2024-07-10T09:36:20","slug":"msf-employee-killed-by-shell-as-north-darfur-fighting-rages-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dabangasudan.org\/en\/all-news\/article\/msf-employee-killed-by-shell-as-north-darfur-fighting-rages-on","title":{"rendered":"MSF employee killed by shell as North Darfur fighting rages on"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) launched an overnight attack towards the headquarters of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) 6th Infantry Division in El Fasher yesterday evening. More than 120 people have been killed, and almost 1,000 wounded, by fighting in the North Darfur capital over the past two weeks.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Listeners told Radio Dabanga that RSF artillery shelling resumed in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, yesterday morning \u201cand went on for several hours\u201d. There is a significant wave of displacement due to the clashes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A member of the M\u00e9decins Sans Fronti\u00e8res team (MSF\/Doctors Without Borders) was killed on Saturday when a shell hit his house near El Fasher Grand Market, the organisation reported on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MSF added that the death toll in El Fasher has reached 123 people in the past two weeks, while the Southern Hospital in El Fasher received 979 wounded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a statement<\/a> on Saturday, the United Nations resident and humanitarian coordinator in Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, said she is deeply saddened by the news of the death of an MSF member in El Fasher and extended condolences to his family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis tragic incident comes when hundreds of thousands of women, men, and children in North Darfur are once again caught in the crossfire of war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe relentless violence must come to an end. Each innocent life claimed stands as a harrowing testament to the sheer brutality of war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy message to all parties is simple. Stop the fighting. A human tragedy of epic proportions is on the horizon, but it can, and must, be prevented.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Displaced<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Dar El Salam Emergency Room in North Darfur said in a statement yesterday that almost 20,000 displaced people have fled to the locality to escape fighting in El Fasher and other areas in the past weeks, most of whom are staying with host families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are 11 shelters, 8 of which are schools, in Dar El Salam. The displaced are living in difficult conditions due to the lack of external assistance from humanitarian organisations\u201d, the emergency room lamented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many people have reportedly fled to areas controlled by the Sudan Liberation Movement faction led by Abdelwahid El Nur (SLM-AW).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conflicting reports<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SAF said in a statement yesterday it \u201csuccessfully expelled the RSF outside of the eastern borders of El Fasher\u201d, in collaboration with joint armed movements<\/a> in Darfur, adding they took control of areas previously occupied by the RSF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The RSF released a conflicting statement yesterday saying it repelled an attack by the SAF in El Fasher on Saturday and accused the army and allies of sheltering in displaced camps and using civilians as human shields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For their part, the joint armed movements in Darfur denied reports that its leaders were negotiating with the RSF in El Fasher, adding in a statement yesterday that they would \u201ccontinue to fight the RSF in El Fasher and elsewhere\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview with Al Arabiya yesterday , Deputy SAF Commander-in-Chief Yasir El Atta renewed his accusation<\/a> that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of backing the RSF in El Fasher. He also accused France of \u201cseeking an alternative homeland in Darfur for diaspora Arabs\u201d, and stressed that the army will continue to fight \u201cregardless of the outcome in El Fasher\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Humanitarian conditions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a briefing<\/a> about the humanitarian situation in El Fasher, posted on Friday, the UN said that about 800,000 civilians in El Fasher and surrounding areas were facing severely deteriorating humanitarian conditions amid ongoing clashes between the SAF and the RSF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe fighting has forced thousands of people to flee since May 10 and caused hundreds of civilian casualties,\u201d UN spokesperson St\u00e9phane Dujarric told reporters in New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUnfortunately, at El Fasher Southern Hospital \u2013 the only functioning hospital in that state \u2013 only 10 days of supplies are left, with an urgent need to restock the hospital,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dujarric told journalists that \u201cmore than a dozen trucks carrying aid for more than 121,000 people have been trying to reach El Fasher for more than a month, but have been hampered by the security situation\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As reported by Dabanga on Wednesday, a report by the Sudanese Transparency and Policy Tracker (STPT) indicated that since taking control of Mellit, North Darfur, last month, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has \u201cused the town as a base to control the flow of goods<\/a> into Darfur and to extract resources from trade\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe RSF refuses to allow humanitarian aid<\/a> through vital routes controlled by SAF and their allies. This, coupled with disruptions to commercial traffic<\/a> between Kufra and Mellit, has further restricted aid flow into Darfur\u201d, STPT said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

World Health Organisation (WHO) spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said \u201conly around 30 percent of health facilities [in Sudan] are functional \u201cand even so at minimal levels\u201d while medical supplies are meeting only around a quarter of the needs. He said that the WHO warehouse in El Gezira has been inaccessible since last December, adding that “some states, such as Darfur, did not receive medical supplies during the past year”.<\/p>\n