UN convoy attacked near El-Fasher, killing 5 in Sudan’s war zone
According to UN agencies, an assault has killed five members of a convoy that was delivering supplies to the war-torn city of el-Fasher in Sudan. They claimed that Monday night’s attack, which happened close to El-Koma in the state of North Darfur, left many trucks burning and several persons injured.
The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the regular army, both sides in Sudan’s bloody civil conflict, have accused one another of using drones to attack the UN convoy. The UN demanded an immediate inquiry and the prosecution of those responsible for the attack, although it did not specify how it occurred.
What was the UN convoy delivering to El-Fasher?
Fifteen trucks from the UN’s food and children’s organizations made up the convoy, and they expressed their dismay that the help did not make it to famine-stricken el-Fasher. The final significant area in North Darfur governed by the army is El-Fasher. For more than a year, the RSF has been attacking both civilians and military people there.
According to a joint statement from the World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN children’s organisation UNICEF, the convoy was trying to deliver nutrition supplies and life-saving food to children and families in the city when it was assaulted. Local volunteer responders from the el-Koma Emergency Room shared a video of a burned-out truck filled with sacks of goods on Facebook after the attack. The Sudanese army was blamed by the organization for the incident.
What role does the RSF play in El-Fasher?
The RSF-controlled area of El-Koma has already been the scene of several attacks during the battle between the army and the paramilitary group. The city has seen assaults that have destroyed vital infrastructure and killed civilians. Sudanese army aeroplanes carried out airstrikes in the town on Sunday, killing or injuring at least 89 people, according to the el-Koma Emergency Room. This charge has not received a response from the army.
The Sudan Tribune news website reports that the jets hit a crowded El-Koma market.
One of the biggest humanitarian catastrophes in the world has been brought on by the conflict, which started more than two years ago.
A UN refugee agency official, Eujin Byun, stated on Tuesday that over four million people had left since the crisis started. After the army and the RSF engaged in a bloody power battle, the civil war broke out in 2023. Before their commanders clashed, the two had worked together to organise a coup to halt Sudan’s democratic transition.
