Sudan: UN Relief Chief Calls for Protection of Civilians and Their Access to Aid in El Fasher

Statement on Sudan by Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator

I am deeply alarmed by reports of civilian casualties and forced displacement amid further escalation of fighting in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State in Sudan, where intense shelling and ground assaults have engulfed the city.

With fighters pushing further into the city and escape routes cut off, hundreds of thousands of civilians are trapped and terrified – shelled,…