LONDON: The US will continue to support the Sudanese people, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Saturday as flash floods continue to ravage the country.
Pompeo said he called the country’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok on Friday to express his condolences for those who died in “Sudan’s recent flooding and to discuss our assistance for the response.”
Floods in Sudan have killed more than 100 people this summer and swamped over 100,000 houses, putting further strain on an economy already struggling.
On Thursday, authorities declared an economic emergency following a dramatic plunge in the value of the national currency, the Sudanese pound.
The “deterioration of the currency has been dramatic,” Information Minister Faisal Saleh said. He accused loyalists of ousted President Omar Al-Bashir of trying to undermine Sudan’s transition to democracy.
“The government’s treasury is empty,” he said.
As of Thursday, at least 103 people had died and at least 500 had been injured because of flooding that has struck since July.