UN chief "gravely concerned" about recent drone attacks in Port Sudan

UNITED NATIONS, May 8 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is gravely concerned that recent drone attacks in Port Sudan, the main entry point for humanitarian aid into Sudan, threaten to increase humanitarian needs and further complicate aid operations in the country, a UN spokesperson said Thursday.

"The secretary-general warns that this major escalation could lead to large-scale civilian casualties and further destruction of critical infrastructure," said Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesperson for the UN chief, at a daily briefing.

He said Guterres is alarmed at the expansion of the conflict into an area that has served as a place of refuge for large numbers of people displaced from the capital, Khartoum, and other areas.

Since January, increased attacks across the country on power stations and other critical infrastructure have disrupted civilians' access to electricity, healthcare, clean water and food.

Haq said the UN secretary-general reiterates that all parties to the conflict must comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law. They must not direct attacks against civilians and civilian objects; must take all feasible precautions to avoid, and in any event to minimize, incidental civilian casualties; and must allow and facilitate rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief for civilians in need.

The UN chief calls on the parties to engage constructively with the mediation support mechanisms already in place to assist the parties to reach a political solution, underscoring the United Nations' continued support to help find a way out of this crisis, said the spokesperson.

Guterres also renews his call for an immediate cessation of hostilities and stresses that dialogue is the only way to achieve the peace that the people of Sudan demand, he said.

On Tuesday, drone attacks struck strategic sites in Port Sudan, a port city on the Red Sea in eastern Sudan, including an international airport, a hotel near the temporary presidential palace, and an oil export port. ■