The United Nations said, in a statement published on Friday, that the number of victims in Sudan has reached 705 dead and 5,287 injured since the outbreak of fighting in the country in mid-April.
The statement quoted Carla Drysdale, a spokeswoman for the World Health Organization (one of the United Nations agencies), as saying that the Sudanese Ministry of Health figures indicate that 705 people have been killed and 5,287 injured since the outbreak of fighting, including 203 dead and 3,254 wounded in Khartoum State.
The statement – published on the United Nations website – pointed out that since the middle of last month, the World Health Organization documented 34 attacks on health facilities, which resulted in 8 deaths among health workers.
In this regard, Drysdale reported that the biggest impediments to providing health care remain the looting of medical supplies and the occupation of health facilities by military personnel.
The organization stated that since the signing of the Declaration of Commitment to Protect Civilians in Jeddah on May 11, 4 attacks on health facilities have been documented.
In a related context, the statement conveyed the appeal of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to ensure the safety of civilians, and to allow aid workers to move freely in Sudan, at a time when humanitarian agencies are expanding their scope of work to respond to the needs of more than a million displaced people inside the country and refugees to neighboring countries.
UNHCR spokesman Matthew Saltmarsh told a press conference at the United Nations office in Geneva that the number of people fleeing to Egypt is estimated at about 5,000 people daily, and about 110,000 Sudanese have entered Egypt since the outbreak of the fighting, adding that many of the arrivals need emergency health care.
He added that about 1,500 people arrive in South Sudan daily, noting that the transit facility near the border has become overcrowded and the resources in it are insufficient for the needs, and efforts are underway to transport people from the border area by train or boat.
According to the same statement, Soltmarsh said in Chad, 20,000 Sudanese of the new arrivals will be relocated to areas far from the border, while the early onset of the rainy season increases uncertainty.
On the other hand, Saltmarsh stressed the importance of the Jeddah Declaration on the commitment to protect civilians and ensure the safe passage of aid, and said that it allowed civilians to leave the fighting sites and the entry of basic aid to Sudan.
On May 13, Saudi Arabia announced a preliminary agreement between the two parties to the conflict in Sudan, called the “Jeddah Declaration”, with the aim of reaching a ceasefire agreement between them for about 10 days, under US-Saudi international monitoring, and then further consultations for a permanent cessation.
Since last April 15, several states in Sudan have witnessed large-scale clashes between the army, led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces, led by Muhammad Hamdan Dagalo (Hamidati), following differences between them, which led to many deaths and injuries, and caused an acute humanitarian crisis.
