Faced with an “unprecedented” situation in Sudan, where the war is raging, Antonio Guterres decided yesterday Sunday to “immediately” send the head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) to the region, Martin Griffiths, announced yesterday the representative of the Secretary-General of the UN.

“The scale and speed with which events are unfolding in Sudan is unprecedented,” Stephane Dujarric said in a statement, expressing “extreme concern.”

For this reason, Guterres decided to send Griffiths “immediately to the region” due to the rapid deterioration of the humanitarian crisis in Sudan.

Sudan was plunged into chaos in the middle of the month when the power struggle between the head of the military junta, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the second-in-command of the military regime, General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, or “Hameti”, led of the dreaded Rapid Support Forces ((RSF), has turned into open warfare. The hostilities have since killed at least 528 people and injured another 4,599, according to the latest official data from the health ministry, released yesterday Saturday. But this is a tally far underrated.

“We are very concerned about the immediate and long-term impact (of this crisis) on all Sudanese and the region as a whole,” Dujarric added.

“Once again, we call on all warring parties to protect civilians and infrastructure, allow safe passage for those leaving combat zones, respect humanitarian aid workers, facilitate relief operations and protect medical personnel , the medical facilities,” the UN official continued.

Since the outbreak of hostilities, tens of thousands of Sudanese, as well as foreigners, have fled to neighboring states, notably Egypt, Ethiopia, Chad and South Sudan, while foreign governments continue frantic operations to evacuate hundreds their nationals.

Violent clashes continue in Khartoum, while the army and RSF announced on Sunday the extension of a ceasefire that has been minimally observed, but has allowed the removal of foreign nationals from the country and the continuation of negotiations.

According to the UN, 75,000 people have been internally displaced and up to 270,000 people may be forced to flee fighting affecting 12 of the 18 states in this country of 45 million people, one of the world’s poorest.

On Sunday, the UN’s World Food Program (WFP) warned that the war in the country threatens to plunge the entire east African region into a humanitarian crisis.