The World Food Programme (WFP) has now reached more than 600,000 vulnerable people with food and nutrition aid since restarting distributions in Sudan, a United Nations spokesperson said in New York on Friday.
The spokesperson for UN Secretary-General António Guterres said, “In three states in the Darfur region – North, South and East – the WFP has now reached some 180,000 people.”
According to Stéphane Dujarric, the agency is planning to start distributions in Central Darfur in the coming days.
“As of today, the WFP has resumed distributions in Blue Nile State,” he said.
However, the World Health Organization has confirmed eight new reports of attacks on healthcare facilities in the last two weeks, which brings the total number of verified attacks since the latest round of fighting broke out in Sudan to 38.
Meanwhile, fighting continues in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum and the Western Darfur region despite reports from Saudi Arabia and the US that the warring sides are adhering better to a new, weeklong cease-fire following days of sporadic fighting.
The latest pause is the seventh attempt at a truce after the others were violated.
The conflict in Sudan erupted in mid-April after months of escalating tensions between the military, led by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces, a powerful paramilitary commanded by Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
Amid the reported calm on Thursday, humanitarian missions were able on to deliver “urgently needed medical supplies to several locations in Sudan,” the joint statement said.
Efforts were also underway to restore telecommunications services in Khartoum and other parts of the country.
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned both parties of possible sanctions if the latest cease-fire was not adhered to.
The UN says that more than a million Sudanese have been internally displaced, while some 300,000 have fled to neighbouring countries.
The conflict has killed more than 860 civilians, including at least 190 children, according to the most recent numbers from the Sudanese Doctors’ Syndicate.
