26 March 2025
Volker Türk issued a
statement on Wednesday saying he was deeply shocked by
reports that hundreds of civilians were killed, and scores
injured, in the 24 March strikes on a busy market in Tora
Village.
The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and a rival
military known as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been
at war for nearly two years.
On Wednesday,
international media reported that the army had recaptured
the capital, Khartoum, which had mostly been under RSF
control since fighting erupted in April 2023.
The army
recaptured the presidential palace last Friday and is now
reportedly in control of all the bridges across the River
Nile which connect the different areas of the capital
area.
Indiscriminate killings continue
The UN
rights chief said his Office, OHCHR,
learned that 13 of those killed in Monday’s airstrikes
belonged to a single family, and that some of the injured
are also reportedly dying due to the extremely limited
access to healthcare.
OHCHR have also received reports
that in the aftermath of the attack, members of the RSF
arbitrarily arrested and detained civilians in
Tora.
Both the RSF and Government forces have been
accused of indiscriminately shelling civilian areas during
the brutal conflict.
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“Despite my repeated warnings
and appeals to both the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid
Support Forces to protect civilians in line with
international humanitarian law, civilians continue
to be killed indiscriminately, maimed and mistreated on a
near daily basis, while civilian objects remain an
all-too-frequent target,” said Mr.
Türk.
He once again urged both parties to take all
measures to avoid harming civilians and attacking civilian
objects.
The High Commissioner warned that
Indiscriminate attacks and attacks against civilians, and
civilian objects, are unacceptable and may constitute war
crimes.
“There must be full accountability
for violations committed in this latest attack, and the many
other attacks against civilians that have preceded
it. Such conduct must never become normalized,”
he said.
UNICEF reports surge in child
violations
In other developments, the UN Children’s
Fund (UNICEF) has called for
urgent protection of boys and girls caught up in the
violence.
Since January, grave violations against
children have surged across the Darfur states, with 110
violations verified in North Darfur alone, the agency
reported on Wednesday.
UNICEF said more than 70
children have been killed or maimed in less than three
months in El Fasher, the North Darfur capital. Furthermore,
intense shelling and airstrikes in the Zamzam camp for
internally displaced people (IDPs) account for 16 per cent
of all verified child casualties in El
Fasher.
Struggle to survive
Sheldon Yett,
UNICEF Representative for Sudan, said an estimated
825,000 children are trapped in a growing catastrophe in and
around the city.
“With these numbers
reflecting only verified incidents, it is likely the true
toll is far higher, with children in a daily struggle to
survive,” he warned.
UNICEF noted that more
than 60,000 people have been newly displaced in North Darfur
in just six weeks. Their numbers add to the more
than 600,000 people – including some 300,000 children –
displaced between April 2024, when the violence escalated,
and January of this year.
An estimated 900,000 people
remain in El Fasher, and 750,000 in Zamzam camp, trapped by
active conflict. Half are children.
Malnutrition and
famine fears
Meanwhile, all access routes are
blocked. At the same time, armed groups are targeting rural
villages and insecurity has made delivery of aid and
commercial goods nearly impossible. Communities face
alarming shortages while food prices have nearly doubled in
three months.
UNICEF noted that malnutrition is rife.
More than 457,000 children in North Darfur are acutely
malnourished, including nearly 146,000 who are suffering
from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) – the deadliest
form.
Additionally, six localities within the state
are at risk of famine.
The agency called on all
parties to facilitate safe, unimpeded humanitarian access so
that life-saving aid can reach children in Al Fasher, Zamzam
and other affected
areas.
