ISTANBUL

The UN relief chief described the war in Sudan as “brutal and inhumane,” calling on all parties to allow life-saving aid to reach those in need and to protect civilians and humanitarian workers.

The remarks came during an inspection tour in Sudan’s western Darfur region by UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher, according to the UN’s website on Thursday.

Fletcher arrived in Port Sudan on Tuesday for a week-long visit. He is continuing his visit to Darfur, having spent the previous night in Geneina, the capital of the state of West Darfur. He then traveled to Zalingei, the capital of Central Darfur, before heading toward East Darfur.

Human suffering in Sudan continues to worsen due to the ongoing bloody war between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since April 2023, which has killed tens of thousands and displaced nearly 13 million people.

“We are here on a major road trip. We’re on the road just beyond Zalingei now,” Fletcher said. “We spent last night in Geneina (West Darfur) with our friends at the Norwegian Refugee Council, and I’ll head on now deeper deeper into Darfur, towards the epicenter of this conflict where we’ve seen mass execution, mass displacement, mass rape, and famine.”

He added: “This really is a brutal, inhumane war and we must be there with the survivors ... We must be allowed to get our life-saving aid through.”

“I spent a day in Port Sudan in eastern Sudan, talking to the authorities there, and to General Burhan and others,” he said.

Fletcher explained that he had also spoken with the RSF “to give us complete access everywhere we need to operate, but also to protect humanitarians and to protect civilians.”

The UN “was a ship that wasn’t built to stay in harbor. We’ve got to be there at the side of the people that we’re here to serve, and I want to show through this road trip, through the places I can get to, that we will do that and we will deliver.”

On Oct. 26, the RSF seized El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, and is accused of carrying out massacres. The group controls all five Darfur states out of Sudan’s 18 states, while the army holds most of the remaining 13 states, including the capital Khartoum.

The number of people displaced from El-Fasher and surrounding villages in North Darfur has exceeded 99,000 since then, according to the International Organization for Migration.