World Food Programme halts Sudan operations, 3 workers killed

Three of its employees were murdered in skirmishes between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) a day earlier, according to the World Food Programme (WFP), which announced on Sunday that it had temporarily ceased all activities in Sudan.

Cindy McCain, executive director of the World Food Programme, said in a statement that “we are forced to temporarily halt all operations in Sudan while we review the evolving security situation.”

“WFP is committed to helping the Sudanese people who are experiencing extreme food insecurity, but we cannot do our lifesaving work if the safety and security of our teams and partners is not guaranteed.”

Conflicts in Kabkabiya, North Darfur, resulted in the deaths of three WFP staff and two injuries. The three fatalities were all Sudanese, a WFP spokeswoman told Reuters.

A U.N. Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) plane was “significantly damaged” at Sudan’s Khartoum airport on Saturday during a firefight, according to McCain, who also noted that it was challenging for WFP workers to carry out their duties.

According to him, the incident has significantly hampered the organization’s capacity to transport assistance workers and supplies to Sudan.

Earlier on Sunday, the WFP personnel’ deaths were condemned by the UN, which noted that they perished while performing their jobs.

Volker Perthes, the commander of the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission (UNITAMS), said in a statement that he was “appalled by reports of projectiles hitting UN and other humanitarian premises, as well as reports of looting of UN and other humanitarian premises in several locations in Darfur.”

56 civilians have been murdered and 595 others, including fighters, have been injured so far in a power struggle between the RSF and the Sudanese army.

On Saturday, combat broke out between General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan’s army supporters and the General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo-led Rapid Support Forces (RSF), also known as Hemedti. It was the first such outbreak since both parties banded together in 2019 to overthrow President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.