Red Cross concerned by drone attacks on critical infrastructure in Sudan
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FILE PHOTO: Children, suffering from malnutrition, are treated at Port Sudan Paediatric Centre, during a visit by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to the country, in Sudan, September 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig/File Photo
By Olivia Le Poidevin
GENEVA (Reuters) - The Red Cross raised alarm on Thursday at the growing use of drone attacks by warring parties on hospitals, electricity and water infrastructure in Sudan, which it said was contributing to widespread human rights violations.
Some 70-80% of hospitals in Sudan were not running and there were concerns cholera could surge due to damage caused by the war to water infrastructure, the International Committee of the Red Cross told reporters in Geneva.
"A recent drone attack stopped all the electricity provision in an area close to Khartoum, which means critical infrastructure is being damaged," said Patrick Youssef, the Red Cross's Regional Director for Africa, in a new report.
"There is a clear increased use of these technologies, drones - to be in the hands of everyone - which increases the impact on the local population and the intensity of attacks," Youssef said.
After two years of fighting between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, some people are returning to Khartoum after they were forced to flee when war broke out on April 15, 2023 amidst a ongoing power struggle between the army and the RSF ahead of a transition to civilian rule.
Some 12 million people have been displaced by the conflict since 2023.
"We have seen violations of the law left, right and centre,” Youssef said, urging the warring parties to allow the Red Cross access so it can offer humanitarian support and document atrocities.
In March, aid groups told Reuters that the RSF had placed new constraints on aid deliveries to territories where it was seeking to cement its control. Aid groups have also accused the army of denying or hindering access to RSF-controlled areas.
Both sides in the conflict deny impeding aid.
(Reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin; Editing by Alex Richardson)
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