The lives of hundreds of thousands of people in Sudan’s Kordofan region are at risk due to escalating fighting and blocked humanitarian aid routes, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned Monday.
Fighting between General al-Burhan’s army (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that intensified in West Kordofan in May has since spread to parts of North and South Kordofan, causing widespread displacement and leaving civilians without access to food, water or medical care, OCHA said in a statement.
“Without urgent, safe and sustained humanitarian access, the lives of hundreds of thousands in the Kordofan region will remain at risk,” OCHA said.
The violence has not only trapped thousands of civilians but also cut off key aid corridors needed to deliver relief to Darfur and other hard-hit areas, OCHA said. Vital supply routes linking El Obeid to Nahud and El Khoy in West Kordofan, and Dilling and Kadugli in South Kordofan, have been severed.
A convoy carrying therapeutic food, malaria and tuberculosis medicines, and chlorine tablets for water treatment has been awaiting permission to travel to Kadugli, the agency reported.
OCHA warned that the start of the rainy season in June will further restrict access to remote communities as roads become impassable, just as the risk of famine and food insecurity peaks in the dry season.
The region’s distance from major hubs such as Port Sudan and the Adre border crossing, as well as ongoing violence and shifting battle lines, have also hampered relief efforts.
Since the beginning of the year, the UN has managed to deliver more than 3,000 metric tons of humanitarian aid to about 300,000 people in North and West Kordofan, according to the agency.