ICRC sends 1st aid shipment to conflict-torn Sudan

AMMAN, Jordan

The first shipment of humanitarian aid arrived in Port Sudan from the Jordanian capital, Amman, to support Sudanese hospitals, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Sunday.

“The 8 tons of humanitarian cargo include surgical material to support Sudanese hospitals and volunteers from the Sudan Red Crescent Society (SRCS) who are providing medical care to people wounded in the fighting,” the ICRC said in a statement.

The shipment was dispatched as fighting between the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) entered the 3rd week.

At least 528 people have been killed and more than 4,500 injured since the outbreak of the violence on April 15, according to Sudan's Health Ministry.

“Health-care workers in Sudan have been doing the impossible, caring for the wounded without water, electricity, and basic medical supplies,” said ICRC’s regional director for Africa, Patrick Youssef.

“The logistics needed to bring in supplies amid an active conflict are extremely difficult, and we’re relieved to get this medical material into the country,” he added.

The ICRC said it is planning to send a second airplane carrying additional medical supplies and emergency personnel to Sudan.

It called on all parties in Sudan “to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law and to facilitate the work of medical and humanitarian personnel, treat detainees humanely and take all feasible precautions to avoid loss of life among civilians and damage to civilian objects and infrastructure.”

A disagreement had been fomenting in recent months between the army and the paramilitary force concerning the RSF integration into the armed forces, a key condition of Sudan's transition agreement with political groups.

Sudan has been without a functioning government since October 2021 when the military dismissed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok’s transitional government and declared a state of emergency in a move decried by political forces as a “coup.”

Sudan’s transitional period, which started in August 2019 after the ouster of President Omar al-Bashir, was scheduled to end with elections in early 2024.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi