UN chief renews call for immediate cessation of hostilities in Sudan

UNITED NATIONS, April 30 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday renewed his call for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Sudan and urged the international community to act with urgency to help bring an end to the relentless suffering and destruction in the country.

The UN chief "is appalled by the increasingly catastrophic situation in Sudan's North Darfur State, as deadly attacks continue on its capital Al Fasher," just two weeks after an assault on the famine-stricken Zamzam and Abu Shouk displacement camps which reportedly killed hundreds of civilians, including humanitarian workers, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the secretary-general, said in a statement.

With more than 400,000 people estimated to have been forced to flee the Zamzam camp alone earlier this month, Guterres is deeply concerned by reports of harassment, intimidation and arbitrary detention of displaced people at checkpoints, he said.

Despite continuing insecurity and severe funding shortfalls, the United Nations and its humanitarian partners are doing what they can to urgently scale up emergency support in the Tawila area of North Darfur, which is hosting a majority of those displaced from Zamzam, said Dujarric.

Violence against civilians also continues in other parts of Sudan, with reports of mass killings in Omdurman in Khartoum State in recent days.

With the conflict now in its third year and increasingly destabilizing the broader region, the UN chief reiterates his call for the facilitation of safe and unhindered humanitarian access to all areas of need by all necessary routes, as well as for the protection of civilians, in line with the parties' clear obligations under international humanitarian law. Perpetrators of serious violations must be held accountable, said the spokesman.

Meanwhile, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Wednesday that more humanitarian supplies are being dispatched to Tawila, where more than 300,000 people fleeing recent attacks in the Zamzam camp have sought safety.

OCHA said an inter-agency aid convoy led by the deputy humanitarian coordinator in Sudan, Antoine Gerard, crossed into the Darfur region from Chad on Tuesday via the Adre border crossing, on its way to Tawila, carrying life-saving supplies, including dignity kits, nutrition and medical supplies and other essential items.

Another convoy of 19 trucks carrying nutrition supplies is expected to depart Chad for Tawila on Wednesday, the office said. ■