UN agency warns children in North Darfur city remain cut off from aid and protection as fighting continues to rage.
The city of el-Fasher in Sudan’s North Darfur has become an “epicentre of child suffering”, with starvation, mass displacement, and relentless violence taking a catastrophic toll following nearly 17 months under siege, the United Nations children’s agency (UNICEF) has warned.
At least 600,000 people – half of them children – have been forced to flee el-Fasher and surrounding camps in recent months amid the ongoing siege by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), according to the agency. The RSF has been fighting government forces since the civil war broke out in April of 2023.
An estimated 260,000 civilians, including 130,000 children, remain trapped inside el-Fasher, cut off from aid for more than 16 months, the agency said.
“We are witnessing a devastating tragedy – children in el-Fasher are starving while UNICEF’s lifesaving nutrition services are being blocked,” UNICEF chief Catherine Russell said. “Blocking humanitarian access is a grave violation of children’s rights, and the lives of children are hanging in the balance.”
