The Sudanese government Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) has approved a UN initiative to deliver humanitarian aid to people living in rebel-controlled areas in the Two Areas (South Kordofan and Blue Nile states).

Humanitarian Aid Commissioner-General Ahmed Mohamed Adam said in a press conference in Khartoum on Thursday that the UN World Food Programme (WFP) office in Sudan will coordinate the provision of aid with the government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) if the latter agrees.

At least 40 people died of chikungunya fever in eastern Sudan’s Kassala last week. Security officers stopped blood donated by people in El Gezira from reaching Kassala. Three chikungunya cases were reported in Northern State.

On Thursday, a young girl died of the mosquito-borne disease in Kassala Hospital, a medical source told Radio Dabanga.

He said she was the 40th patient who died in Kassala town last week.

The chikungunya epidemic is now spreading in the rural areas of Kassala locality, multiple sources told Radio Dabanga.

They severely criticised the Governor of Kassala, Adam Jamaa, for denying that people died of the mosquito-borne disease.

“At least 25 chikungunya patients reportedly died in Kassala during the past three days,” a listener reported. “The El Hassan and El Hussein cemetery east of Kassala and the graveyard west of El Gash are daily witnessing burials of chikungunya victims.”

The number of cases of chikungunya fever has dramatically increased in Kassala, where two seniors died on Monday. The current outbreak, in which more than 6,000 people have been infected, is causing paralysis in all service facilities and the markets.

A resident told Radio Dabanga that the number of those who suffer the disease from his family and relatives alone exceeds 20 cases, while the health centres in the districts of Kassala have witnessed overcrowding. Patients line up in front of nurses to take injections and intravenous solutions.

The Governor of South Darfur has called on relief organisations to provide aid to the victims of a landslide near the village of Tagoli in Kass locality two weeks ago.

Governor Adam El Faki said in a press conference in Khartoum on Tuesday that two people died and two others went missing in the rockslide that took place near Tagoli village on September 6.