Worsening fighting in Sudan limiting humanitarian operations: UN

In a worsening situation, fighting across Sudan severely limits humanitarian operations, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.

"There is limited ability to move personnel and supplies," the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said. "The targeting and looting of humanitarian premises must stop. Attacks on humanitarian assets and facilities will severely impact our ability to resume lifesaving operations."

The OCHA said the World Food Program temporarily suspended operations following the killing of three staff members caught in the crossfire in North Darfur. Attacks on critical public facilities, including health, water, sanitation and hygiene, severely affect access to essential services.

Stephane Dujarric, chief spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, told reporters in a regular briefing that humanitarian workers in Khartoum were in lockdown.

He said members of the humanitarian staff were ordered to stay in their apartments or, in the case of staffers whose apartments were taken over by fighters, to stay in the apartments of friends, neighbors or co-workers.

The humanitarians said nine hospitals in Khartoum and two in Bahri, or Khartoum North, closed due to shelling and insecurity.

Additionally, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that several of Khartoum's hospitals ran out of blood, transfusion equipment, intravenous fluids, and other vital medical supplies.

Though Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces agreed to a 24-hour ceasefire starting from 6 p.m. Tuesday, locals told Reuters that gunfire was still heard in Khartoum when the ceasefire was due to start.

Citing Sudan's Ministry of Health Emergency Operations Center, the WHO tweeted that at least 270 people have been killed and more than 2,600 injured in the fighting that erupted in the country on Saturday.

(Xinhua )