UN Official: The attack on El Fasher Threatens Lives of Thousands of Children

Sudan Events – Agencies

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned of a threat to the lives of hundreds of thousands of children in El Fasher, in the event of a military attack on the city, which houses at least 500,000 people displaced due to violence elsewhere in the country.
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell confirmed in a statement on Friday that the imminent attack threatens a catastrophic escalation, and called on the parties to the conflict to urgently retreat from such a dangerous confrontation.
She said that the escalation of fighting in North Darfur state has caused fatal human losses among children, noting that at least 43 people, including children and women, have been killed since the fighting escalated in El Fasher and neighboring areas more than two weeks ago.
Catherine warned that the continuation of attacks – including the use of explosive weapons in residential neighborhoods – poses a particular danger to children, and will only lead to the displacement, injury and killing of more children.
She referred to “horrific” reports of acts of violence such as sexual violence, the injury and killing of children, the setting fires to homes, and the destruction of vital civilian supplies and infrastructure during recent attacks on more than a dozen villages west of El Fasher.
She continued by saying: “Families, including those already displaced by the conflict, were once again forced to flee with nothing but the clothes they were wearing. “There are deeply disturbing reports of children being separated from their families or reported missing.”
The Director of UNICEF called on the parties to the conflict to make every effort to calm the situation, allow the safe movement of civilians, including the sick and wounded, who want to move to safer areas, and ensure the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure. It also stressed the need for the parties to the conflict to ensure rapid, sustainable and unimpeded access to humanitarian aid – whether across conflict lines inside Sudan or across borders with neighboring countries.