The airports to be opened are in the cities of Kassala, Dongola, El Obeid, and Kadugli..reports Asian Lite News
The Sudanese government on Saturday said it has agreed to open four additional airports for humanitarian agencies to deliver aid to the war-torn country, according to Sudan’s Transitional Sovereign Council.
The airports to be opened are in the cities of Kassala, Dongola, El Obeid, and Kadugli, said the sovereign council in a statement.
By doing this, “the government of Sudan has fulfilled all requirements for the entry and flow of humanitarian aid by air, land and sea,” the statement said, adding that there are now six airports and seven land crossings available to international organizations.
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According to the UN, half of Sudan’s population, or about 25 million people, need humanitarian assistance and protection, while nearly 18 million face acute food insecurity.
The World Food Program has previously warned that Sudan could face the world’s worst hunger crisis as the conflict has entered its second year.
Sudan has been ravaged by a deadly conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces since mid-April 2023. The conflict has resulted in approximately 20,000 deaths, thousands of injuries, and the displacement of millions, according to recent estimates by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Meanwhile, residents in the south of the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, are suffering from deteriorating health services and the lack of essential medicines as epidemics continue to spread amid a prolonged civil war.
Insecurity and recurring violence in the region have led to a partial shutdown of medical facilities, limiting local access to healthcare services, reports Xinhua news agency.
On October 5, the non-governmental organisation Doctors Without Borders said it was forced to suspend activities at the Al Shaheed Waddalatela clinic south of Khartoum.
The “extremely difficult” decision came after three incidents of armed robberies within a month, which endangered the lives of staff and patients, the global medical charity said in a statement.
Meanwhile, “there is a significant shortage of medicines in all medical facilities in southern Khartoum,” Rasha Idris, an official at the Khartoum State Health Ministry, told Xinhua, noting that local health authorities were coordinating with international organisations for medical aid delivery.
On Saturday, the obstetrics and gynaecology department at the Bashair Hospital, one of the two main hospitals in southern Khartoum, said it became out of service due to a shortage of blood in the hospital’s blood bank.
In a statement, the hospital called on nearby citizens to donate blood, noting that the emergency room could also be shut down if blood is not provided within 24 hours.
The ongoing conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, which began in April 2023, has also disrupted healthcare services in other regions, including Darfur, West Kordofan, Gezira, and Sinnar.
The health crisis is further exacerbated by outbreaks of epidemic diseases, including cholera, malaria, measles, and dengue fever. The Sudanese Ministry of Health has so far reported over 25,000 cases of cholera and more than 700 related deaths, along with over 2,500 cases of dengue fever.
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