• 'Families are running for their lives, hungry and exhausted,' says World Food Program executive director, urging immediate end to brutal attacks

GENEVA

The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Friday urged world leaders to take decisive action to end the indiscriminate killing of civilians in Sudan, describing the situation in El-Fasher and other parts of the country as a "humanitarian catastrophe."

"The appalling abuses of the rules of war we are witnessing in Sudan are indefensible," Mirjana Spoljaric said in a statement. "No patient should be killed in a hospital, and no civilian shot while trying to flee their home."

"These horrific attacks must stop and international humanitarian law must be respected," she urged.

She warned that civilians are enduring "brutal attacks, rampant sexual violence and the deliberate destruction of essential services," adding that hospitals and health centers "once dedicated to saving lives have become scenes of death and destruction."

Spoljaric said the ICRC has repeatedly called on the warring parties to respect international humanitarian law, but violations "continue to be committed with impunity."

The ICRC president also condemned recent attacks on humanitarian workers, noting that "just this week in North Kordofan, five of our colleagues from the Sudanese Red Crescent Society were killed."

"Leaders must now show political courage to stop the killing," she said, stressing that all states have a duty to uphold international humanitarian law and ensure others do the same.

"Lives in Sudan now depend on strong and decisive action to stop these atrocities. The world cannot stand by as civilians are stripped of safety and dignity," she concluded.

Separately, World Food Program (WFP) Executive Director Cindy McCain also voiced concern over the "devastating violence" in El-Fasher.

"Families are running for their lives, hungry and exhausted. These brutal attacks must end. Now," McCain said on the US social media platform X.

She underlined that the UN organization must be allowed to "operate with full independence and neutrality — and stand with the people of Sudan in their time of immense need."

Sudan has been ravaged by a civil war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since April 2023, causing thousands of deaths and the displacement of millions of people.

El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, fell under the control of RSF on Sunday after months of siege. Rights groups have accused the RSF of committing mass killings, detaining people and attacking hospitals.