Five aid workers have been killed in an attack on a convoy of humanitarian trucks delivering food and supplies in Sudan’s western Darfur region.
Sudan has been in civil war for two years, displacing 14 million people and killing at least 150,000.
United Nations agencies have condemned the strikes and demanded an “urgent investigation”.
Background
Sudan was ruled for decades by dictator Omar al-Bashir, who faces charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.
Bashir was removed by the unofficial militia group, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and the army (SAF) in 2019.
Democratic elections were supposed to follow, but Sudan was instead effectively ruled by the military.
In April 2023, the SAF and RSF partnership fell apart, resulting in a civil war. Since then, the country has been engulfed in violent conflict.
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Attack
A convoy of 15 trucks carrying UN humanitarian aid was travelling from Port Sudan in the east to Darfur in the west when it was attacked earlier this week.
Five aid workers were killed and several others injured. The BBC reports both the RSF and SAF have blamed each other for the attack.
“The convoy... was attempting to reach children and families... with life-saving food and nutrition supplies,” the UN’s food and children’s agencies said in a joint statement.
The UN didn’t specify how the trucks were attacked, though the agencies noted some trucks were burned, damaging supplies.
The agencies have called for an “urgent investigation and for the perpetrators to be held to account.”
“Attacks on humanitarian staff, aid, operations, as well as civilians and civilian infrastructure in Sudan have continued for far too long with impunity,” the statement said.
The agencies referenced a bombardment of a food relief organisation’s office in a SAF-controlled town last week.
