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The ongoing conflict in Sudan is escalating a humanitarian crisis in Sudan’s Sennar State, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has warned. 

This emerged after an office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs team in Gedaref visited several reception sites where displaced families are seeking shelter following the clashes that erupted in Sennar State in the southwest of the country.  

“The team reported that people continue to arrive in large numbers. Children and older people are among those arriving in very difficult conditions, having been unable to bring many supplies with them. The Office is working with other UN agencies and our partners to provide critical humanitarian assistance,” said Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, at a press briefing.

Similarly, concern has been raised by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) after a mosque in El Fashar, where relief food was being distributed, was attacked by a drone, leading to the deaths of eight children.  

“The mosque had been providing food to vulnerable children and their families and was clearly not a safe place.  The senseless killing of children in Sudan and elsewhere must end,” Stephane Dujarric emphasized. 

Furthermore, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said it is deeply concerned that a critical supply route may be severed, halting the passage of humanitarian assistance from Port Sudan in the east.   

“We reiterate that a famine is looming, and it is imperative to sustain the delivery of life-saving aid across conflict lines and across borders,” said Dujarric.

(With input from agency)