A U.N. relief mission to Sudan’s North Darfur ended in disaster this week when a drone strike reduced every truck in a food convoy to ashes, wiping out desperately needed aid meant for famine-hit communities.
Sixteen World Food Program vehicles carrying supplies were destroyed, though, according to the United Nations, all drivers and staff escaped unharmed.
U.N. associate spokesperson Daniela Gross told reporters Thursday that it remained unclear who launched the attack.
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The strike was the second in three months to halt aid deliveries into North Darfur. In June, a joint convoy run by the World Food Program and UNICEF came under fire while awaiting clearance for entry into the besieged capital, el-Fasher, leaving five people dead and several others wounded.
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Sudan has been engulfed in war since April 2023, when long-standing rivalries between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces exploded into open conflict in Khartoum before spreading to other parts of the country. U.N. agencies estimate that some 40,000 people have been killed and nearly 13 million displaced. Nearly 25 million are now suffering acute hunger, Gross noted.
The RSF and allied militias announced the formation of a rival administration in June, asserting control over much of Darfur, where investigators are probing allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The paramilitary group has laid siege to el-Fasher, the last Darfur state capital not under its control, leaving hundreds of thousands trapped and on the brink of starvation.
Famine was first declared over a year ago at Zamzam camp in North Darfur. The United Nations now warns that the threat has spread to 17 locations across Darfur and into neighboring Kordofan, intensifying the humanitarian crisis.
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