Sudan Drone Strikes Have Killed Nearly 700 Civilians in Three Months, UN Says

As the conflict between the army and paramilitary groups in Sudan enters its fourth year, "the world has failed to meet the test of Sudan", United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher said on Tuesday. The civil war has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 11 million.

"In the first three months of this year, nearly 700 civilians were reportedly killed in drone strikes," Fletcher said in a statement, adding that three years of civil war had created the "world's largest humanitarian crisis".

In recent months, near-daily drone strikes have disrupted life across Sudan, particularly in the southern Kordofan region, now the war's main battleground, and in parts of the west, including Darfur, controlled by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

"Millions have been driven from their homes across Sudan and beyond its borders, with entire communities emptied and families uprooted time and again. The risk of wider regional instability is high," said Fletcher.

The UN aid chief said three years of war had torn apart a country with immense promise, with almost 34 million people - almost two in every three - needing humanitarian support.

He said hunger was on the rise as the lean season closes in, while hundreds of thousands of children were acutely malnourished and millions had been deprived of education.

Women and girls are facing systemic and brutal sexual violence, he added.

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Response 'critically underfunded'

Fletcher said that last year, humanitarians reached 17 million people with support, and this year woud try to help 20 million.

However, "the response is critically underfunded", he said. "We need action now - to stop the violence, protect civilians, ensure access to communities in greatest danger, and fund the response. This grim and chastening anniversary marks another year when the world has failed to meet the test of Sudan."

Sudan: Three years of war and new reports of meddling by Ethiopia

Denise Brown, the UN's resident coordinator in Sudan, said on Monday that the UN appeal to raise $2.9 billion (€2.45 million) for Sudan this year is only 16 percent covered, as international aid contributions from member countries decline.

Donors will gather in Berlin on Wednesday for a conference on the conflict, aimed at reviving faltering peace talks and mobilising aid for the humanitarian crisis.

(with AFP)

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