There is a "high risk of biological hazard" after one of the warring parties seized a laboratory holding measles and cholera pathogens, in addition to other hazardous materials in the Sudanese capital Khartoum, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Tuesday.
The armed clashes between the Sudanese military and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitaries have left roughly 459 people dead and 4,072 injured, said Nima Saeed Abid, a WHO representative in Sudan, noting that technicians were unable to access the Sudanese National Public Health Laboratory to secure the materials.
"This is the main concern: no accessibility to the lab technicians to enter to the lab and safely contain the biological material and substances available there," he stated, without specifying which side of the warring parties made the seizure.
The WHO’s statement comes as the conflict between the Sudanese Army and the Rapid Support Forces, which erupted in Khartoum on April 15, carries on.
At the time when the conflict erupted, the sides were trading accusations over who shot at whom. The army attacked the positions of the special forces, some of them were claimed by the Sudanese military to have been taken under control. Later, the leadership of the armed forces announced the dissolution of the Rapid Support Forces, refusing to negotiate with them.
Amid the clashes, the United Nations humanitarian office (OCHA) was forced to suspend some of its activities in several areas of Sudan. At least five aid workers have been killed since the armed conflict broke out and the two UN agencies who lost staff, the International Organization for Migration and the World Food Program, suspended their activities, according to Reuters.
Earlier today, a newly-agreed-on 72-hour truce took hold. The last time, the sides agreed to a temporary ceasefire related to the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which was on April 20.
The truce is seen by observers as necessary, among other things, so that the Sudanese, who have been trapped in their homes for several days since the onset of the hostilities, can get out of the country's capital.
Meanwhile, a growing list of countries have evacuated diplomats, staff and others from Sudan, as the fierce fighting rages on in the country's capital.