El-fasher: At least 600,000 people, including 300,000 children, have been displaced from El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, Sudan, amid a siege by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), as reported by UNICEF on Wednesday.
According to Anadolu Agency, UNICEF has highlighted the dire situation in El-Fasher, describing it as an epicenter of child suffering. Approximately 260,000 civilians, including 130,000 children, are trapped in the city, deprived of humanitarian aid for over 16 months. The blockade has caused severe shortages in essential supplies, forcing health facilities and mobile nutrition teams to suspend their operations. An alarming 6,000 children with Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) remain untreated as a result.
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell stated, "We are witnessing a devastating tragedy - children in El-Fasher are starving while UNICEF's lifesaving nutrition services are being blocked." The siege, imposed by the RSF since April 2024, has disrupted supply lines, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis. Despite the challenges, more than 10,000 children in El-Fasher have been treated for SAM since January, nearly double the number from the previous year. However, the critical services have now come to a halt due to supply shortages.
Recent reports indicate that within a single week, at least 63 people, predominantly women and children, succumbed to malnutrition in the city. Since the onset of the siege, UNICEF has verified over 1,100 grave violations against children in El-Fasher, including the killing or maiming of more than 1,000 children in homes, displacement camps, and marketplaces.
Additionally, at least 23 children have been subjected to rape, gang rape, or sexual abuse, while others have been abducted or recruited by armed groups, as reported by the UN agency. The conflict between the Sudanese army and RSF, ongoing since April 2023, has resulted in over 20,000 deaths and displaced 14 million people, according to the UN and local authorities. However, research from US universities suggests the death toll may be around 130,000.