UN releases $22 mn for people fleeing Sudan fighting

United Nations, May 20 The UN has released $22 million to aid people fleeing the hostilities in Sudan into four neighbouring countries, UN humanitar said.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Friday that UN Under-Secretary-General Martin Griffiths, the relief chief, authorised the funds to help support about 2,50,000 people the UN Refugee Agency reported seeking safety in the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt and South Sudan.

Fighting between two military factions broke out in Sudan's capital of Khartoum on April 15 and spread elsewhere in the country, Xinhua news agency reported.

OCHA said UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Chad, Violet Kakyomya, visited refugees and returnees at the border in Koufroun earlier on Friday.

The office said renewed violence in Sudan's West Darfur state drove about 30,000 people to cross into Chad in the last week. Humanitarian agencies are working closely with the government to scale up the response.

The International Organisation for Migration said the conflict has displaced more than 8,43,000 people inside Sudan.

Since the fighting broke out, the WHO verified 34 attacks on healthcare, leading to eight deaths and 18 injuries, impacting 21 facilities.