At least 83 dead and more than 1,100 wounded since the start of the fighting in Sudan

17 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –

The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that at least 83 people have been killed and more than 1,100 injured since the start of clashes on Thursday between the Sudanese Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The victims were mainly in Khartoum –in the center of the country–, South Kordofan –close to the border with South Sudan–, North Darfur –in western Sudan– and in the State of North.

However, currently the greatest concentration of clashes takes place in the capital. Meanwhile, movement in the city has been limited by the insecurity of the conflict.

The WHO has reminded all parties to the conflict of their obligations under International Humanitarian Law, in order to protect the wounded, civilians, health workers and hospitals.

The agency, in turn, has indicated that it is monitoring health and resource needs in Khartoum and other affected cities to ensure that limited resources go where they are most needed.

Supplies distributed by WHO to health centers prior to this recent escalation of the conflict have been depleted, and many of Khartoum’s nine hospitals receiving wounded civilians report shortages of blood, transfusion sets, intravenous fluids, medical supplies and other basic products that save lives, according to a WHO statement.

They have also pointed out that there are reports of a shortage of specialized medical personnel and problems in the operation of sanitary facilities due to water and electricity cuts, as well as a lack of fuel.

The main civil organizations and political parties in Sudan have demanded in unison over the weekend not only the end of the fighting between the Sudanese Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), but also the end of the “militarization” that It has dominated the country’s “public space” for decades and, in particular, since the overthrow four years ago of dictator Omar al Bashir after a revolution in which civilians were instrumental.

Before the outbreak of the fighting, the African country was governed by a junta led by General Abdelfatá al Burhan, whose “number two” was the military leader of the RSF, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, alias “Hemedti”. The discrepancies between the two regarding the paramilitary integration in a future unified army ended up degenerating into this conflict.

Both the Army and the RSF, it should be remembered, have been accused of committing massacres and a spectrum of abuses of all kinds against the civilian population in the years that followed the fall of Al Bashir.