Airstrike destroys food aid for 5,800 people in Sudan: WFP

Adel Abdelrheem and Mohammad Sio

An airstrike destroyed two World Food Programme (WFP) trucks carrying enough food to assist about 5,800 people for a month near Dilling in Sudan’s South Kordofan state, the UN agency said Wednesday.

The WFP said the trucks were attacked outside Dilling on Aug. 30 as they traveled to Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan, and were clearly marked with WFP signs and flags.

“The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) strongly condemns the aerial attack that hit two trucks carrying WFP food assistance,” the agency said in a statement.

The attack destroyed “more than 50 metric tons of WFP food – including cereals, yellow split peas, vegetable oil and salt – enough to provide lifesaving assistance to 5,800 people for one month.”

The WFP did not identify those responsible for the attack.

The agency said it “is supporting nearly 58,000 people facing emergency levels of food insecurity or worse through in-kind food assistance.”

“Since the beginning of the year, WFP has recorded eight aerial attacks that have damaged its premises and disrupted operations,” the statement added.

The WFP called on all parties to the conflict “to respect international humanitarian law by protecting civilians, humanitarian personnel and humanitarian assets.”

Drone attacks

On Aug. 29, the Sudan Doctors Network said three people were killed and others injured when a drone struck a market in Dilling, alleging that the drone belonged to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The UN said on Aug. 24 that 1,100 civilians were killed in drone attacks in Sudan between January and June this year.

Sudanese authorities and rights groups have accused the RSF of targeting civilian facilities. The group does not usually comment on such allegations and claims it is working to “protect civilians.”

Fighting has continued across North, West and South Kordofan states since Oct. 25.

Sudan has been at war between the army and the RSF since April 2023, a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced about 13 million, according to UN and international estimates.