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Thousands of people have fled Sudan’s capital Khartoum amid an increasingly dire humanitarian crisis as fighting between two rival military factions continues into a sixth day. Several attempts to impose a ceasefire have failed. The United Nations reports nearly 300 civilians have been killed, though the true toll is likely far higher. The U.N. also warns of worsening shortages of food, water, fuel and medical supplies, and Doctors Without Borders reports up to 70% of the hospitals in Khartoum and neighboring states are not able to function. This is Esraa Abou Shama, a doctor at Sudan’s Health Ministry.
Dr. Esraa Abou Shama: “Most of the big and specialized hospitals are out of service and not offering any services of examination or treatment services for the patients, because they have been targeted with shelling, and some of them because of the shortage of doctors and also because of electricity and water outages.”
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres is in emergency talks today with members of the African Union, the Arab League and other regional leaders. The meeting comes as aid workers report tens of thousands of Sudanese refugees have fled across the border into Chad.