Red Cross aid's first flight reaches Sudan as fighting intensifies

The first flight of the Red Crosscarrying humanitarian aid landed in Sudan on Sunday, where deadly clashes between forces of rival generals continued for the third week.

"The eight tonnes of humanitarian cargo includes surgical material to support Sudanese hospitals and volunteers from the Sudan Red Crescent Society," said the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

On April 15, the fighting started between forces which are loyal to two rival generals, leaving around 500 dead and thousands wounded while displacing tens of thousands from their homes.

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Since the conflict started, dead bodies have remained on the capital's streets and the ICRC's Africa regional director Patrick Youssef, while speaking to journalists from the Sudanese Red Crescent, said that they are "trying to get to the bodies in the streets".

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Around 16 per cent of hospitals are completely functioning in the capital city of Khartoum, as per the report of the World Health Organisation, after many facilities were shelled in the ongoing fighting.

The shipment left Amman, the capital of Jordan, and arrived in the eastern city of Port Sudan which was called by Youssef as the only entry point currently available for aid to reach Sudan.

He stated that the medical kits present on the plane were "enough to stabilise 1,500 patients", adding that the ICRC was aiming for security guarantees to further send aid to Darfur and Khartoum.

The regional director stated that some aid was delivered by them to Darfur at the beginning, but "it was not enough, and we could not get anything to Khartoum".

Meanwhile, Sudan's former prime minister Abdalla Hamdok on Saturday warned that the conflict could turn into one of the worst civil wars in the world.

"God forbid if Sudan is to reach a point of civil war proper...Syria, Yemen, Libya will be a small play," said Hamdok speaking at an event in Nairobi. "I think it would be a nightmare for the world,” he added.

WATCH | Sudan violence enters third week, UN says country "Falling apart"

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has also appealed for negotiations to end the civil strife.

"There is no right to go on fighting for power when the country is falling apart," he said while speaking at Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television on Saturday.

"My appeal is for everything to be done to support an African-led initiative for peace in Sudan,” he added. Around 75,000 people have been displaced from their homes due to the fighting, said the UN.

Around 20,000 have fled to Chad, 4,000 to South Sudan, 3,500 to Ethiopia and 3,000 to the Central African Republic, it stated.

(With inputs from agencies)

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