Two clearly marked World Food Programme trucks were hit outside Dilling, destroying enough food to feed 5,800 people for a month….reports Africa Daily News Desk
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has condemned an airstrike on two of its aid trucks in Sudan’s South Kordofan State, saying the attack destroyed more than 50 tonnes of food intended for thousands of people facing severe hunger.
The trucks came under attack on Sunday outside the town of Dilling while transporting emergency food supplies to Kadugli, the WFP said in a statement on Wednesday.
The destroyed food was enough to provide lifesaving assistance to around 5,800 people for one month, the UN agency said.
WFP said the vehicles were clearly marked with its banners and flags and called on all parties to Sudan’s conflict to respect international humanitarian law and protect civilians, aid workers and humanitarian assets.
“Attacks on humanitarian personnel and operations are unacceptable and must stop,” the agency said.
The strike was the latest in a series of attacks affecting humanitarian operations in Sudan. Since the beginning of the year, WFP has recorded eight aerial attacks that damaged its facilities and disrupted aid deliveries.
In Kadugli, the agency is currently providing food assistance to nearly 58,000 people facing emergency levels of food insecurity or worse.
The Emergency Lawyers, a Sudanese volunteer rights group, also condemned the attack, warning that attacks on clearly marked humanitarian aid threaten both relief operations and civilian lives.
The group said restrictions on humanitarian access, combined with declining agricultural and livestock production and reduced rainfall, were worsening the humanitarian crisis and increasing the risk of water shortages.
It called for unrestricted civilian access to food and humanitarian assistance and demanded an immediate and independent investigation into the latest attack and previous strikes on aid operations.
Sudan has been gripped by war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces since April 2023. The conflict has killed thousands, displaced millions and triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian and food security crises.
