Khartoum - New York: Europe and the Arabs
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said it is closely monitoring the situation in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, in light of recent shifts in effective control of the city.
In its latest update, the office stated that it continues to receive disturbing reports of retaliatory acts by armed groups against civilians.
It reiterated that civilians are not a target and that all parties must comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law and international human rights law. It added that serious violations must be investigated and perpetrators held accountable.

Access to People in Need
OCHA said that, in the meantime, it and its humanitarian partners are seizing every opportunity to reach those in need with vital support.
The World Food Programme (WFP) said that on Thursday, 1,200 metric tons of food and nutrition assistance were distributed to approximately 100,000 people in the Bahri and Omdurman areas of Khartoum State. These are the first WFP aid trucks to reach these areas within Khartoum since the start of the latest round of hostilities. For its part, the International Organization for Migration indicated that nearly 400,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) have recently returned to their original towns and villages in the states of Al Jazirah, Sennar, and Khartoum. It warned that many are returning to areas suffering from a scarcity of basic services, including shelter, food, and healthcare.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that displacement from North Darfur and White Nile states has increased due to worsening insecurity in these two areas.
In the same context, the Acting Representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Sudan, Argentina Matavill Pecchin, described the situation of girls and women in Sudan as "heartbreaking," warning of the devastating impact of the conflict on them.
In an exclusive interview with UN News, the UN official indicated that of the 12 million displaced people in Sudan, approximately 2.7 million are women and girls of reproductive age, including 300,000 pregnant women. "In addition to dealing with the problems and emergencies that sometimes arise during pregnancy, the challenge many of these women and girls face is being exposed to brutal rape, which causes them psychological and physical distress," she said.
She explained that many of these women must be both mothers and fathers because the men are either engaged in fighting or elsewhere, "and when families are scattered, the women find themselves alone with the children."
Bitchen said, "Some women end up giving birth on the side of the road when they flee their homes after hearing shelling and bombing. Sometimes there is no one around, or there may be someone who doesn't even know what to do, as these people are not midwives and are not trained. Therefore, when the delivery occurs without skilled care, the newborn may contract tetanus, as they cut the umbilical cord with whatever tool they can find. Often, this newborn does not survive the journey before the mother receives care."