Khartoum [Sudan], April 22: The Sudanese government announced Monday that it has agreed to build UN logistical supply bases in North Darfur State in western Sudan.
"The Government of Sudan has agreed on the United Nations' request to establish logistical supply bases around El Fasher to facilitate humanitarian work in Mellit and Tawila areas," Sudan's Transitional Sovereign Council said in a statement.
It said its chairman Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, also commander of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), received a phone call on Monday from UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher, during which the two discussed the possibility of delivering aid to El Fasher while avoiding obstacles posed by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) or others.
On Sunday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs stressed the need to grant the UN and non-governmental organizations immediate and sustained access to El Fasher and surrounding areas to ensure safe and large-scale deliveries of life-saving support.
"The current mass displacement -- particularly from Zamzam, Abu Shouk, and other displaced camps -- has pushed an estimated 400,000-450,000 people toward Tawila, areas surrounding Jebel Marra, and further," it said in a statement.
Since May 10, 2024, fierce fighting has erupted between the SAF and the RSF in El Fasher, part of the broader conflict that has engulfed Sudan since mid-April 2023.
The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced over 15 million, and left Sudan facing what the UN calls one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
Source: Xinhua News Agency
