UNITED NATIONS, March 21 (Xinhua) -- The looting of vital aid supplies for malnourished children in Sudan's capital Khartoum will further compound an already dire humanitarian catastrophe, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned on Friday.
A large quantity of life-saving medical supplies, including at least 2,200 cartons of ready-to-use therapeutic food, were looted from the Al Bashair hospital in Jabal Awlia, outside of Khartoum, according to a statement issued by UNICEF.
The looted supplies, delivered by UNICEF last December, were intended to support malnourished children and provide critical healthcare to mothers and newborn.
The agency said the looting "has put the lives of over 2,000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition at risk."
The looted iron and folic acid supplements were designated for 6,000 pregnant and lactating women. The stolen midwife kits and primary healthcare supplies would have supported over 132,980 mothers, newborns, and children in a region where healthcare access is extremely limited, they said.
The Al Bashair hospital is one of the last functioning medical facilities in Jabal Awlia on the outskirts of Khartoum.
Jabal Awlia is also one of 17 localities facing a risk of famine, according to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) update. This made the loss of these supplies catastrophic for more than 100,000 acutely malnourished children, UNICEF said.
Commercial supplies and humanitarian aid have been blocked for more than three months due to ongoing conflicts in the country, leading to severe shortage of food, medicine, and other essentials.
"Sudan is already facing one of the world's worst humanitarian crises," UNICEF said, condemning the looting and warning that "the loss of these supplies -- coupled with the forced suspension of humanitarian operations due to worsening security conditions -- is pushing children closer to catastrophe." ■
