A city in Sudan’s western region is facing a “devastating tragedy” as the remaining population of about 260,000 people, half of them children, remain trapped after being besieged by a paramilitary group, the United Nations warned on Wednesday.
El-Fasher, the provincial capital of North Darfur province, has been at the centre of fighting for over a year between the Sudanese military and the paramilitary Rapid Support forces, RSF.
The UN children’s agency says at least 600,000 people have been displaced from El-Fasher and surrounding camps in recent months, but inside the city there are still 260,000 civilians — including 130,000 children — living in “desperate conditions” after being cut off from aid for more than 16 months.
It says an estimated 6,000 children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition and are at risk of death.
The paramilitaries have imposed a siege around the city, cutting off supply lines, UNICEF said in a statement.
El-Fasher has become “an epicentre of child suffering, with malnutrition, disease, and violence claiming young lives daily,” it said.
“We are witnessing a devastating tragedy – children in El-Fasher are starving while UNICEF’s lifesaving nutrition services are being blocked,” said Catherine Russell, the agency’s executive director.
“Blocking humanitarian access is a grave violation of children’s rights, and the lives of children are hanging in the balance,” Russell said.
