Fighters in Sudan have occupied a state medical laboratory with samples of the causative agents of diseases such as polio, cholera and measles. The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Tuesday that this creates an “extremely, extremely dangerous” situation.
“The occupation of the medical laboratory by a party to the conflict poses a very serious biological risk,” said WHO representative in Sudan, Nima Saeed Abid, via video link at a press conference in Geneva. He emphasized that samples of various potentially deadly pathogens such as cholera and polio were stored in the laboratory.
Nima Saeed Abid added that at least 459 people have been killed and 4,072 injured in the fighting in Sudan.
Because of the conflict in Sudan, the United Nations estimates that up to 270,000 people could flee the north-east African country to neighboring Chad and South Sudan. The representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Chad, Laura lo Castro, said on Tuesday that 20,000 refugees from Sudan had already arrived there. In the “worst case” the arrival of up to 100,000 more refugees can be expected.
“In South Sudan, the most likely scenario is that 125,000 South Sudanese refugees will return and 45,000 refugees will come,” UNHCR representative in the country Marie-Hélène Verney said at a news conference.
A 72-hour ceasefire, negotiated by the United States, has been in force between the conflicting parties in Sudan since Tuesday. Heavy fighting broke out between the military and paramilitaries in Sudan more than a week ago. De facto President Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who is also the supreme commander of the army, wants to use the military to oust his deputy Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, the leader of the influential paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The two men had taken over the leadership of the country on the Horn of Africa with around 46 million inhabitants through two joint military coups in 2019 and 2021.
Meanwhile, Germany continues to evacuate foreign nationals. “The evacuation continues, we are planning more flights,” said a spokesman for the Bundeswehr on Tuesday of the AFP news agency. With a total of five flights, almost 500 people have been taken out of the country since Sunday evening, including mainly German citizens, but also members of other nations. “Our goal is to fly out as many people as possible,” said the spokesman.
The evacuations started from an airfield outside the Sudanese capital Khartoum. Germany has taken over the coordination of all flights from France and regulates flight times and practical operations. Due to the ongoing fighting in Khartoum, Germany and numerous other countries had launched evacuation operations for their nationals in the north-east African country.
Sources: DPA, AFP and Reuters news agencies
