Sudan crisis: People struggle for drinking water and electricity as unrest grips country
As the battle between RSF and Sudan army entered into fifth day, scarcity of drinking water and electricity has made it difficult for people to survive in the country
A day after agreeing to a cease-fire, the two forces, which turned Sudan into a battleground for power, continued launching attacks against each other on Wednesday. As the heavy gunfire and bomb attacks continued to rattle Khartoun, city residents are left to survive without water and electricity.
In Sudan's Khartoum, people are struggling hard to quench their thirst and forced to live under the darkness due to a power cut. In a recent BBC report, a resident of Khartoum, said that she has completely run out of drinking water.
"This morning we ran out," Duaa Tariq said on Tuesday. The lady was saving one bottle exclusively for her two-year-old child.
All the efforts to bring the two forces to a consensus of halting the battle for a day, went in vain when both sides began firing and attacking each other on Wednesday.
RSF looting food and water from people in Khartoum
There are also reports of Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary force looting in some of the residential areas of the capital. The residents have shared their encounters with RSF personnel.
People have said that RSF militia had been going home-to-home in the neighborhood demanding water and food, reported BBC. Notably, the area from where residents are facing harassment from RSF militia is the one where the EU's ambassador Aidan O'Hara was assaulted at his home. Later, he informed that he was not seriously injured.
Recounting the horror of armed men, a local tea vendor, Mahasen Ali, said, “They take whatever they can, and if you resist, they kill you,” reported AP.
She also added that many have left their homes to take refuge in open areas, hoping to be safe from shelling hitting buildings.
Hospitals running out of medicine and food
Amid the ongoing clashes between Sudan Army and RSF, it has become for hospitals and other medical aid providers to treat injured people due to supply shortages. Many doctors and hospitals have complained that they are running out of essential medicines and intravenous fluids. The current situation is nothing less than a nightmare for people who are already suffering from health illnesses like cancer, diabetes, HIV, etc. More than 10 hospitals have been destroyed amid clashes in the city.
It has become difficult for Khartoum's Al-Zara Hospital to treat its patients under the scarcity of medicine and even food. The situation is deteriorating with the rising influx of patients from another hospital which came under attack, a female patient of the hospital told BBC on Monday.
The hospitals are running out of everyday essentials like blood bags, oxygen, intravenous fluids, surgical kits, etc.
Airstrikes and artillery attacks hinder humanitarian support
The international airport of the city was completely damaged by RSF after it took control of it last week. This has made it difficult for international organisations like WHO, Red Cross to send aid to the battle-struck area.
The Red Cross Society is receiving multiple calls for help from people trapped in their homes by the fighting. Khartoum has an estimated population of 10 million residents.
(With agency inputs)
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Business NewsNewsWorldSudan crisis: People struggle for drinking water and electricity as unrest grips country
First Published:19 Apr 2023, 05:49 PM IST
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