Intelligence officials have detained a Sudanese-American physician, who criticized the army for diverting World Health Organization’s aid packages to a hospital it had turned into a barracks.
Renowned surgeon Alaaeldin Nugud was taken from his residence in Omdurman’s al-Manar neighborhood. He had earlier revealed how the army was stealing aids away from those in need.
“A WHO shipment arrived in Port Sudan and the army got hold of it,” Nugud said. “They took it to the army hospital in Omdurman, but when doctors arrived to transport it to other facilities they were denied entry.” He said doctors were informed the hospital had become a barracks.
Ridab Idres, Nugud’s wife, confirmed the story of her husband’s abduction by armed officers, dressed in civilian clothes, and that his younger brother was beaten up. She and their daughter have escaped to Egypt. Idres remarked, “They took all his library, computer, an iPad, mobile phone, and him,” adding that she thought he had been targeted due to his activity.
However, a group for Sudanese medics in the US asked for the doctor’s release in a social media post. They referred to the persecution of medical professionals as “a feature, not a bug, of the horrific crisis” in Sudan.
Moreover, the World Food Program (WFP) revealed that 17,000 metric tonnes of food supplies had been stolen since the army’s clashes with the Rapid Support Forces began in mid-April.
A third of Sudan’s 45 million citizens are dependent on assistance even before the conflict began, and the country has been impoverished. Three-quarters of hospitals in war zones have been inoperable, and entire areas in Khartoum, no longer have access to water supply or power.
Food and other help has been distributed by the WFP in locations like Omdurman, located on the western side of the Nile. Chaos always break out over the distribution of nutrient-rich cereal grain sorghum in Omdurman’s Ombadah 18 neighborhood.
“We appeal to all parties involved to prioritize the safety of humanitarian workers and assets, enabling us to continue our life-saving work,” Khalid Osman, acting Deputy Country Director for the WFP in Sudan stated. Majority of medical facilities in the triangle of Khartoum, Omdurman, and Bahri, have closed their doors to the general public.
Sudanese Army Pulls Out Of Ceasefire Deal With The RSF
Fear of further escalations, that had already displaced hundreds of thousands of people, have increased, due to the Sudanese Army’s withdrawal from the negotiations for truce and humanitarian access.
Earlier in May, negotiations with the opposing Rapid Support Forces (RSF) were launched in the port city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, that resulted in a proclamation of promises to safeguarding civilians as well as two temporary cease-fire agreements that were frequently broken.
The General Command of the Armed Forces announced that, it had revoked the negotiations, blaming the opposing side of a persistent disregard for the ceasefire, and a lack of dedication to adhering to any of the conditions set out in the truce.
“The General Command of the Armed Forces has decided to suspend the current talks in Jeddah due to the rebel militia’s lack of commitment to the implementation any of the terms of the agreement and its continuous violation of the ceasefire,” the statement read.
The RSF in a response claimed that, the Army had stopped the discussions in Jeddah in order to weaken them and had violated the truce by attacking its flanks with heavy artillery and aircraft.
Additionally, the African Union (AU) stated that, additional attempts at mediation should not be discouraged by the negotiations’ suspension.
“In difficult negotiations, it is a classic phenomenon that one party suspends or threatens to suspend” its participation, Mohamed El Hacen Lebatt, chief of staff to the AU Commission president, and AU’s spokesman for the Sudan crisis said.
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