UN chief discusses situation in besieged Sudan city with PM
Port Sudan, Sudan (PANA) – The UN Secretary General Antony Guterres has had a telephone conversation with Sudanese Prime Minister Dr Kamil Idris to discuss the situation in Darfur in general and the besieged Al Fashir city.
The UN has posted a press release on the phone call with Mr. Kamil Idris, Transitional Prime Minister of Sudan, saying they discussed the humanitarian situation, the protection of civilians and humanitarian access.
"The Secretary-General and Mr. Idris also discussed, in particular, the dire humanitarian situation in Al Fashir, caused by the continued encirclement and bombardments,” the press release said.
Reports coming out of the area indicate that the people have been forced to eat animal fodder as food. Supplies have been cut to the city for over a year coupled with constant bombardment and attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which at the same time, have prevented people from leaving through arrest and killing of those it suspects are supporters of the rival Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) against which it has been fighting a bloody war for more than two years.
Many efforts by the UN, international and sub-regional organisations, countries have failed to end the war.
The Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan said in March that both sides were responsible for "a widespread pattern of arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment of detainees".
It said both both the RSF and the SAF had used "rape and other forms of sexual violence, arbitrary arrest and detention, as well as torture and ill-treatment".
The fighting has sparked one of the world's worst humanitarian crises - 12 million people have been forced from their homes and famine has been declared in parts of the country.
Sudan is the world’s largest hunger crisis, humanitarian agencies have said, adding that Famine has spread to additional areas and could spread even more in coming months.
An international coalition that groups five governments beside the United Nations and the African Union one week ago issued a joint statement urging the warring parties in the Sudan to allow humanitarian aid passage and respect human rights.
The ALPS (Aligned for Advancing Lifesaving and Peace in Sudan), which brings together the Governments of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, the United States of America, and the African Union and United Nations, on Wednesday said it was "appalled by the continuous deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Sudan".
It referred particularly to the growing number of people in situations of severe malnutrition and famine, and by the wide range of access impediments that are delaying or blocking the response in key areas.
ALPS lamented that Sudanese civilians continued to pay the highest price for this war.
-0- PANA MO/MA 27Aug2025
