The fighting has also caused disease outbreaks and increased malnutrition, according to William Spindler, a spokesman for the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR). From mid-May to mid-July, UNHCR recorded more than 300 deaths from measles and malnutrition, mostly among children under the age of five.
Smoke rises in Khartoum, Sudan, on June 8, 2023, as fighting continues between the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. Photo: AP
His comments came as clashes between the Sudanese army and RSF paramilitary forces intensified in the eastern part of the capital Khartoum and the nearby city of Omdurman.
Sudan was plunged into chaos in April when simmering tensions between the army led by General Abdel Fattah Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commanded by General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo erupted into fierce fighting in Khartoum and elsewhere.
On Tuesday, Nabil Abdallah, the army's chief spokesman, said army forces had killed and wounded hundreds of RSF fighters in ongoing operations in Omdurman.
RSF does not acknowledge those casualties and instead says its fighters killed scores of army soldiers in street battles.
Rival forces have ordered civilians to evacuate the riverside district of Abu Zouf in Omdurman due to intensifying fighting, according to the Sudanese Resistance Committees - a pro-democracy network.
Omdurman's Al-Nou Hospital - where many of the injured are being treated - is short of surgeons, blood supplies and oxygen tanks, the Sudanese Doctors Association said on Tuesday.
In June, the Sudanese government said more than 3,000 people had been killed in the conflict so far but has not released any figures since. Activists and doctors say the actual death toll could be much higher.
Fighting has turned Khartoum into an urban battlefield, where many residents live without running water and electricity. In the western region of Darfur, the war has turned into sectarian violence, with the RSF and allied Arab militias targeting ethnic African communities.
Amnesty International has accused both sides of war crimes and the International Criminal Court prosecutor last month announced an investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity in the latest fighting in Darfur.
With Sudan’s rainy season underway, UNHCR predicts cholera and malaria will increase in the coming months. Last fall, flooding killed scores of people across the country.
Mai Van (according to AP)
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