UN: El Obeid Medical Services Suspended, Aid Routes Impassable; Warring Parties Urged to Halt Civilian Attacks

UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq issued an urgent statement on April 1 calling on both the SAF and RSF to halt attacks on civilians and critical infrastructure. The UN cited specific and rapidly deteriorating conditions: roads connecting El Obeid (North Kordofan capital) to Dilling and Kadugli had become too dangerous for humanitarian use; basic medical services in El Obeid had been suspended for approximately one month due to bureaucratic restrictions and fighting; escalating fighting near the Ethiopia border in Blue Nile State had severely curtailed humanitarian operations in the area; aid workers were being robbed at gunpoint and some organizations had entirely suspended operations in parts of Darfur. The statement warned that civilians and humanitarian staff were 'bearing the brunt' of the conflict's geographic expansion. The situation in El Obeid was particularly alarming given that UN supplies there had supported hundreds of thousands of people displaced from fighting across North and South Kordofan, including survivors of the Dilling siege.