A U.N. convoy delivering food aid to the besieged city of al-Fashir in Sudan’s North Darfur was attacked overnight, killing five and injuring several others, the World Food Programme (WFP) and UNICEF said in a joint statement Tuesday.
“We have received information about a convoy with WFP and UNICEF trucks being attacked last night while positioned in Al Koma, North Darfur, waiting for approval to proceed to al-Fashir,” said UNICEF spokesperson Eva Hinds.
The region has been gripped by fierce fighting between Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan’s army (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The three-year-old conflict has driven over half the population to crisis levels of hunger.
The RSF’s aid commission blamed a SAF airstrike for the attack, a claim echoed by local activists. Al Koma, controlled by the RSF, has previously been the target of SAF airstrikes, including a drone attack earlier this week that reportedly killed civilians.
Famine conditions have already been reported in al-Fashir, the capital of North Darfur, where violence and aid restrictions by both sides have cut off critical relief.
This latest assault follows a pattern of attacks on humanitarian convoys and civilian infrastructure, further imperiling aid to desperate communities in the region.