The World Food Program (WFP) announced this Sunday the suspension of its operations in Sudan after the death on Saturday of three humanitarian workers who worked for this Rome-based UN agency.
“We are forced to temporarily suspend our operations in Sudan while we review developments in the security situation,” Cindy McCain, director of WFP, said in a statement.
Three WFP aid workers have been killed in fighting in Sudan since Saturday between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo, known as “Hemedti”, and the regular army, the official announced today. UN. United Nations envoy in this Northeast African country.
The staff were killed on Saturday while working in North Darfur in the west near Chad, which closed its border with Sudan due to violence, Volker Perthes said in a press release, adding that “aid buildings were attacked and others looted in that region, a historical stronghold of the RSF.
WFP specifies, for its part, that one of the planes used in its operations was also damaged on Saturday at Khartoum international airport.
“WFP is committed to helping the Sudanese people who face severe food insecurity, but we cannot do our job of saving lives if we do not ensure the safety of our teams and partners,” said Cindy McCain.
“Any loss of life in the humanitarian exercise is unacceptable and I urge immediate action to ensure the safety of those still present,” he continued.
“Aid workers are neutral and should never be objective. Threatening our teams makes it impossible to work safely,” said Cindy McCain, calling on the parties to the conflict to reach an agreement that allows operations to reopen.
RSF paramilitaries clashed with the Sudanese army on Saturday morning in Khartoum, but the violence spread to other parts of the country.
The clashes, which continued this morning, caused the death of 56 civilians in 24 hours, according to a report cited by the US agency AP.
A network of doctors in Sudan said there were dozens more deaths between the rival forces and some 600 injuries, including civilians and fighters.
Heavy fighting involving armored vehicles, truck-mounted machine guns and fighter jets continued today in Khartoum, the neighboring city of Omdurman and in other parts of the country, according to AP.
The clashes are part of a power struggle between General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, commander of the armed forces, and General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, head of the RSF.
The two generals are former allies who orchestrated the October 2021 military coup that halted Sudan’s brief transition to democracy.
In recent months, internationally supported negotiations have revived hopes for an orderly transition to democracy.
However, the growing tensions between Burhan and Dagalo ended up delaying an agreement with the political parties.
In Khartoum and Omdurman, clashes were reported today around the military headquarters, Khartoum International Airport and the state television headquarters, according to AP.
“The battles have not stopped,” said human rights defender Tahani Abass, who lives near the military headquarters, quoted by AP.
“They are shooting each other in the streets. It is an all-out war in the suburbs,” she added.
Both the army and the RSF claimed to control strategic locations in Khartoum and other areas, but these claims could not yet be independently verified.
Sudan, with more than 49 million inhabitants, is located on the shores of the Red Sea, which separates the country from Saudi Arabia.
It has land borders with Egypt, Eritrea, Libya, Chad, the Central African Republic, and South Sudan.
Source: TSF
