The U.N. Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan Clementine Nkweta-Salami said it she was deeply saddened by the death of an MSF staff member when shelling hit his house in Al Fasher on Saturday.
The aid worker was not identified.
In a statement sent to Radio Tamazuj, Nkweta-Salami said the “tragic” killing comes when hundreds of thousands of women, men, and children in North Darfur are once again caught in the crossfire of war.
“People in El Fasher and surrounding areas face a dire humanitarian situation, with conflict affecting every aspect of their daily lives. The number of casualties is rising by the day,” she said.
Adding, “The relentless violence must come to an end. Each innocent life claimed stands as a harrowing testament to the sheer brutality of war.”
Nkweta-Salami urged warring parties to stop fighting in the city. “A human tragedy of epic proportions is on the horizon, but it can, and must, be prevented,” she said.
Fighting between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) intensified earlier this month in the city, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes, according to the United Nations.
El-Fasher has become the center of the clashes between the army and the RSF. The city is the last stronghold still held by the military in the Darfur region.
Sudan’s conflict began in April last year when soaring tensions between the leaders of the military and the RSF exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere in the country.
The conflict killed more than 14,000 people and wounded thousands more amid reports of widespread sexual violence and other atrocities that rights groups say amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.