6 days ago
Five dead after UN food convoy attacked in Sudan
Five aid workers were killed and several more hurt in an attack on a United Nations convoy taking aid to a famine-stricken Sudanese city.
The joint convoy by the World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN's children's fund, (Unicef) was struck on Monday night as it tried to negotiate access to El Fasher in Darfur.
Several trucks were burned and five convoy members were killed in the attack, though it was not immediately clear who was behind it.
The Sudanese army and its paramilitary enemy, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), traded accusations of responsibility, and a UN statement did not say who was to blame.
The army said the convoy was targeted by RSF drones, while the RSF said it had been hit by government aircraft.
The convoy of 15 lorries had driven more than 1,1000 miles from the coastal aid hub at Port Sudan and had stopped at Al Koma as access to El Fasher was being negotiated.
A joint statement said: 'As is standard with our humanitarian convoys, the route was shared in advance, and parties on the ground were notified and aware of the location of the trucks.
'Under international humanitarian law, aid convoys must be protected, and parties have the obligation to allow and facilitate rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief for civilians in need.
'Both agencies demand an immediate end to attacks on humanitarian personnel, their facilities and vehicles – a violation under international humanitarian law.'
El Fasher has been besieged by RSF forces for more than a year, and is the only government-held city within the Darfur region.
Aid agencies report terrible hunger and regular bombardment inside the city, but have struggled to get aid inside because of a lack of safe passage across the front lines.
Both sides in the war are accused of halting aid deliveries to enemy territory.
The UN agencies demanded an urgent investigation and called for the perpetrators to be held to account.
'This latest incident follows a series of attacks on humanitarian operations over the past two years, including last week's bombardment of WFP's premises in El Fasher which damaged a workshop, office building and clinic.'
Sudan has been engulfed in war since April 2023, when a long rivalry between the de-facto president, Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and his deputy, Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagaloa, known as Hemedti, flared into civil conflict.
Fighting between the army and Hemdeti's RSF militia has turned much of the country of nearly 50 million into a war zone.
Fighting has since cut supply lines and put much of the country's agricultural land out of use.
Since the war began, the war has killed tens of thousands, uprooted 13 million and created the world's largest hunger and displacement crises.
Monday's attack came as the UN's refugee arm said four million people had now fled across Sudan's borders because of the fighting.
The exodus has caused knock-on crises in Chad and South Sudan.
Eujin Byun, UNHCR spokeswoman, said: 'It's a devastating milestone in what is the world's most damaging displacement crisis.'
'If the conflict continues, thousands more people will continue to flee, putting regional and global stability at stake.'
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