A devastating attack on a joint World Food Programme (WFP) and UNICEF humanitarian aid convoy in the Sudanese region of North Darfur has resulted in the tragic loss of five lives, with several other individuals sustaining injuries. The convoy, which was on a critical mission to deliver urgently needed food supplies to the besieged city of El Fasher, came under fire near Al Koma on the night of Monday.

The convoy comprised fifteen trucks that had undertaken an arduous 1,120-mile journey from Port Sudan. According to the joint WFP-UNICEF statement, the convoy was in the process of negotiating access to El Fasher when it was deliberately targeted. Despite standard procedures of sharing the route in advance and notifying all parties on the ground of the trucks' location, the attack occurred, leading to multiple trucks being burned and a significant quantity of critical humanitarian supplies being damaged or destroyed, thereby compounding the suffering of those awaiting aid.

This violent incident is not isolated but occurs within the grim context of a brutal two-year war between the Sudanese Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The relentless conflict has plunged Sudan into a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, where aid deliveries are frequently obstructed or caught in the crossfire. As a direct consequence, more than half of the Sudanese population is currently grappling with acute levels of hunger and severe food insecurity. Reinforcing the persistent dangers faced by humanitarian operations, WFP premises in El Fasher itself were targeted just last week, causing damage to a workshop, an office building, and a clinic.

In a strongly worded joint statement, the World Food Programme and UNICEF vehemently condemned the attack on their humanitarian convoy. The agencies underscored the grave and escalating risk of malnutrition and starvation faced by hundreds of thousands of people in El Fasher, a significant portion of whom are vulnerable children, if essential life-saving supplies do not reach them without further delay. "It is devastating that the supplies have not reached the vulnerable children and families they were intended to," the statement lamented, articulating the profound and immediate negative impact of such heinous acts on civilian populations who depend on this aid for survival.

The joint statement further served as a stark reminder of the unequivocal obligations under international humanitarian law. This body of law explicitly mandates the protection of aid convoys and unequivocally requires all parties to a conflict to allow and facilitate the rapid, safe, and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief for civilians in desperate need. Both the WFP and UNICEF issued an urgent demand for an immediate and complete cessation of all attacks on humanitarian personnel, their facilities, and their vehicles, unequivocally branding such acts as serious violations of international humanitarian law. Furthermore, they called for a prompt and thorough investigation into this specific incident, insisting that the perpetrators be identified and held fully accountable for their actions.

Extending their deepest condolences to the families of those who were killed and expressing their heartfelt sympathy and unwavering support to all those injured, the agencies reaffirmed their steadfast commitment to their humanitarian mission. "Attacks on humanitarian staff, aid, operations, as well as civilians and civilian infrastructure in Sudan have continued for far too long with impunity," the joint statement powerfully noted. Despite the pervasive and escalating insecurity, dedicated WFP and UNICEF personnel courageously remain on the ground, striving to continue their life-saving work. They concluded with an urgent appeal for the establishment of safe and secure operating conditions and for the universal respect of international humanitarian law by all parties involved in the conflict, emphasizing that the very lives of millions of people in Sudan, particularly in critically affected locations such as El Fasher in Darfur, depend on it.