Sudan’s army has denied carrying out an air strike on a World Food Programme (WFP) convoy that was delivering aid to famine-hit areas in Darfur.
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who control the town of Mellit where the attack took place on Wednesday, had blamed the military for the strike.
The WFP confirmed that three lorries in the 16-vehicle convoy were damaged and caught fire, but said all staff members were safe. It is still gathering more details and assessing the impact of the attack.
The convoy was headed to a famine-affected village near Mellit, about 90km north-west of el-Fasher the army’s last stronghold in Darfur, which has been under RSF siege for over a year.
In a statement, the WFP reminded both sides that “humanitarian staff and assets must never be a target” and urged respect for international humanitarian law.
The attack adds to a growing list of assaults on aid operations in Sudan. In June, five aid workers were killed in a similar incident in el-Fasher.
Sudan has been in civil war since April 2023, when a power struggle between the army and the RSF erupted into full-scale conflict.
So far, the war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people inside the country, while another 4.5 million refugees mostly women and children have fled to neighboring states.
Both the army and the RSF have previously been accused of using starvation as a weapon of war by obstructing or looting aid deliveries.
