“While we review the evolving security situation, we are compelled to temporarily pause all operations in Sudan,” WFP executive director Cindy McCain said in a statement. “WFP is committed to helping the Sudanese people facing dire food insecurity, but we cannot do our life-saving work if the safety of our teams and partners is not guaranteed.”
Three WFP staff were killed and two wounded in the clashes in Kabkabia, North Darfur. The WFP did not specify their nationalities.
McCain also said that WFP staff were finding it difficult to work after a United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) plane was “significantly damaged” during Saturday’s shooting at Sudan’s Khartoum airport.
He said the incident had seriously affected the organisation’s ability to move humanitarian workers and provide aid to Sudan.
Fierce fighting continued in Sudan’s capital on Sunday despite a humanitarian halt.
Fighting has left three UN World Food Program staffers dead, with more than 50 civilians killed across the countryhttps://t.co/ctGFHwz4I5 pic.twitter.com/P1BpRVWJ2o
– AFP news agency (@AFP) April 17, 2023
Earlier on Sunday, the United Nations condemned the killing of the WFP staff, saying they were killed in the line of duty.
Volker Perthes, the head of the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission (UNITAMS), established in 2020 to support Sudan’s democratic transition, said in a statement that he was “also appalled by reports of projectiles hitting UN and other humanitarian compounds”. ” As reports of looting of UN and other humanitarian compounds in several places in Darfur.
The power struggle between the Sudanese army and the RSF has so far killed 56 civilians and injured 595 people, including fighters.
Fighting broke out on Saturday between military units loyal to General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemedti. It was the first such outbreak since the two forces joined forces to oust President Omar Hassan al-Bashir in 2019.