Reuters
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The attack on the UN Food Convoy in Sudan killed five people overnight, preventing the delivery of food to children and families facing starvation in Alfasil, North Darfur, the UN agency said Tuesday.
“Five members of the fleet were killed and several more injured. Several trucks were burned and important humanitarian supplies were damaged,” the United Nations Children’s Agency and the World Food Programme said in a joint statement.
They didn’t say who was responsible, and called for an urgent investigation into the attack, but they said it was a violation of international humanitarian law.
Without immediate fresh supplies, hundreds of thousands of Al Fasir people are at a high risk of malnutrition and starvation, the United Nations Joint Statement said.
Aid frequently crossfires in a war two years ago between the Sudanese army and paramilitary swift support forces.
In the statement, the RSF and the military denounced each other for their latest attacks. The RSF said the Army attacked with airstrikes, but the Army said the RSF torched the truck.
Reuters could not independently verify conflicting accounts.
The route of the 15 truck convoy, which traveled more than 1,800 kilometers from Port Sudan, was previously shared with the parties, according to the United Nations Joint Statement. It was negotiating access to complete the journey when it was attacked, it said.
Alcoma is managed by the RSF and earlier this week saw a drone strike claiming the lives of several civilians, according to local activists.
The hunger condition has previously been reported in Alphaseur, the capital of North Darfur. The combat and barriers to the provision of aid introduced by both parties cut off supply.
This attack is the latest in some recent attacks on aid. It follows the repeated bombardment of Al Fasir’s UN World Food Program facility by the RSF, and the attack on El Obeid Hospital in Northern Cordofan, which killed several Medics late last month.
