Fierce fighting is continuing in Khartoum, Sudan, as the army tries to push back the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) from around the presidential palace and army headquarters, in spite of a supposed seven-day ceasefire in the conflict that began on April the 15th.

Sudanese reports on Tuesday said 550 people had died and 4,926 people wounded so far in the conflict.

As the conflict in Sudan enters its third week the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean alerted to the consequences of the conflict in the healthcare facilities in the country. 

“In numbers, approximately 61 percent of the medical institutes in Khartoum stopped working because of the direct military attacks, military occupation for those institutes, and firing of their staff. 23 percent of the hospitals in Khartoum work partially, and 16 percent work at full capacity, this is the health situation in Sudan, especially in the conflict areas”, announced Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari, regional director of the World Health Organization’s office for the Eastern Mediterranean.

According to the UN even before the conflict, 15.8 million people, about a third of the population were already in need of aid.

To add on, before the fighting erupted, a third of Sudan’s population of more than 45 million relied on humanitarian assistance, according to UN agencies, already suffering funding shortfalls.

Thousands of UN workers were evacuated a week into the fighting, and some UN agencies paused their services. The World Food Programme (WFP) suspended operations after three of its workers were killed in fighting in southern Sudan, but the agency has since said it will resume its work.

For those who cannot leave Khartoum, basic goods have become unavailable or unaffordable. Aid organization Mercy Corps said on Wednesday that prices of basic goods in the city increased more than 130 percent on average, while fuel prices increased more than tenfold.