A humanitarian convoy with trucks from the World Food Programme (WFP) and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) was attacked on Monday in Sudan, resulting in five deaths and several injuries, the UN reports.
The attack took place in Kuma, a town in Sudan’s North Darfur region, according to the United Nations, whose Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, has called for an “urgent investigation.”
The convoy of 15 trucks, carrying much-needed food aid, was awaiting permission to continue to Al-Fasher, capital of North Darfur, and deliver food and medical assistance to the population there.
Al-Fasher, the only major city in the west of the country still under government control, has been under siege by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for a year.
The trucks had travelled 1,800 kms from Port Sudan, which has served as the unofficial capital since the war began. The route had been communicated in advance, and all parties in the area were aware of the convoy’s location, according to a joint press release from the WFP and UNICEF.
The two UN agencies noted that the attack constituted a violation of international humanitarian law. However, their press release did not specify who was behind the attack.
The RSF claimed the convoy was “deliberately” attacked by government forces, while the government asserted that the paramilitaries targeted it with drones.
Since mid-April 2023, an open conflict between military leader and de facto president Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF leader Mohammad Hamdan Dagalo has led to at least four million people fleeing Sudan, according to the UN.
Millions more have been displaced within the country, fleeing violence and hunger.
The UN has described the crisis as “the world’s largest humanitarian disaster.”
