Khaberni - Tom Fletcher, the United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, stated that the organization is striving hard to enter the famine-stricken Sudanese city of Al-Fashir in Darfur.
Fletcher said that delivering aid is a huge task facing the United Nations in the city, which will be treated as a "crime scene" for investigations following reports of executions, detentions, and systematic rape.
Fletcher stated that a safe corridor is needed for humanitarian workers to enter the city and for survivors to leave.
Fletcher mentioned that the talks with the Rapid Support Forces are "very sensitive" but he hopes that the United Nations will be able to enter Al-Fashir within days or weeks, not months. He said, "We will make a strenuous effort to enter."
Fletcher said, "Mass atrocities, mass executions, mass torture, and massive sexual violence have occurred... This is a city that has been under siege for a long time, they need food, water, and medicine."
Fletcher mentioned that the delivery of aid will be conditional on the Rapid Support Forces providing a safe passage for United Nations convoys and fleeing civilians, as well as holding the fighters who committed atrocities accountable.
Fletcher added that he had talks last week in Port Sudan with the Sudanese army commander Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan for full access to the country.
The Sudanese army had previously put bureaucratic barriers in front of this access.
