Conditions not allowing full-scale humanitarian operations in Sudan despite cease-fire: UN

By Betul Yuruk

UNITED NATIONS (AA) - The UN said Tuesday that “conditions are not allowing for full-scale humanitarian operations” in Sudan despite a cease-fire between warring parties.

''Following the recent cease-fire agreement, humanitarian organizations are ready to move about 168 trucks to reach more than 4 million people across the country,'' UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters.

He said the UN and its partners are expanding humanitarian operations to some locations in Sudan despite the challenges.

The Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary agreed Saturday to a seven-day cease-fire.

The conflict-hit African nation has been engulfed by violence for weeks between the army and the RSF.

More than 700 people have been killed, including 190 children, and 6,000 others injured, according to the UN.

More than 1 million residents have been displaced and over 840,000 have sought shelter in rural areas and other states while another 250,000 have crossed Sudanese borders.

Disagreement had been fomenting in recent months between the two sides about integration of the RSF into the armed forces -- a key condition of Sudan's transition agreement with political groups.

Sudan has been without a functioning government since fall 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."

The transitional period, which started in August 2019 after the ouster of President Omar al-Bashir, had been scheduled to end with elections in early 2024.