NRC Calls for Immediate Halt to Drone Attacks on El Obeid

Oslo – Sudanhorizon
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) has called for immediate protection for civilians, aid workers, and local teams in and around El Obeid, western Sudan. This includes taking concrete steps to stop attacks on hospitals, schools, markets, and water, electricity, and fuel networks by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), though the NRC did not explicitly state this.

In a press release issued today (Tuesday), the NRC stressed the urgent need for emergency funding and unimpeded humanitarian access to El Obeid in particular and Kordofan in general.

The NRC’s warning, issued just one day after a similar warning from the UN Human Rights Council, indicates that the city is facing drone attacks, and there are growing fears of a wider offensive by the RSF.

The council statement noted that, according to the UN, at least 45 civilians were killed in the city in just three weeks in June as a result of repeated drone attacks targeting markets, schools, gas stations, water networks, and vehicles. Just last week, an aid convoy en route to the city was bombed. According to local partners, some families in certain areas have not received aid for months.

The council warned: “With water supplies cut off, families are forced to queue for hours to obtain water that is often unsafe to drink. When they manage to bring water home, they are forced to choose between using it for drinking, cooking, or washing. With the onset of the rainy season, the threat of cholera and other waterborne diseases looms.”

The statement added that many families are forced to mix flour with water to feed their children, either because they have no other options or cannot afford the soaring prices of food.

Despite the violence, schools remain open to provide a sense of stability for children. However, the weekly strikes have forced the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and its partners to suspend classes on some days. In some classrooms, children’s play has become a reenactment of bombing, and many can now distinguish weapons by the sound they make.

“Children go to school without water, electricity, or food, in buildings that cannot protect them from airstrikes,” said Jan Egeland, NRC Secretary General. “Sometimes, local medics provide assistance at night because daylight has become more dangerous than darkness.”

The charity added that transportation costs have skyrocketed as fuel stations have been targeted or closed, and vehicles on the roads have been targeted. NRC staff reported that the price of a liter of fuel now exceeds a teacher’s monthly salary. Some families are selling their belongings to afford a way out, but most cannot.

For many of the city’s displaced people, who have already fled the horrors of El Fasher and other devastated areas, there is nowhere else to go. As more families arrive fleeing the violence surrounding the city, they now face the risk of living in the same horrors they tried to escape.

Shortlink: https://sudanhorizon.com/?p=15636