Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Chapman of Darlington on 24 June (HL Deb cols 663-6), what assessment they have made of the report from the UN, Sudan: Drone attacks endanger civilians and shut down critical services in El Obeid, published on 22 June, stating that in El Obeid drones have targeted the electricity and water station leading to a severe shortage of drinking water and food supplies.

In a joint statement released on 23 June, the Foreign Secretary and her E4+ counterparts (France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, UK) drew attention to the repeated drone strikes in El Obeid in recent weeks, which have killed civilians and driven acute shortages of fuel, food and water.

The statement went on to call on the RSF to halt its attack on El Obeid immediately, and continued as follows: "Civilians must be able to leave safely, and all parties must ensure rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access. The RSF and the SAF, and their allies, must de-escalate, uphold international humanitarian law, and honour their commitments under the Jeddah Declaration."