The World Food Programme (WFP), an agency of the United Nations, on Sunday, announced that it was temporarily suspending its operations in Sudan after three of its workers were killed in the fighting which erupted between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Friday.
WFP Executive Director, Cindy McCain, said in the statement that WFP temporarily halted all operations in Sudan as it reviews the security situation.
“While we review the evolving security situation, we are forced to temporarily halt all operations in Sudan,” McCain said.
“WFP is committed to assisting the Sudanese people facing dire food insecurity, but we cannot do our lifesaving work if the safety and security of our teams and partners is not guaranteed,” she said.
She narrated that from information gathered, the three WFP employees were killed, and two others injured in clashes in Kabkabiya, North Darfur.
McCain also said it was “difficult for WFP’s staff to operate after a U.N. Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) aircraft was significantly damaged at Sudan’s Khartoum airport during an exchange of fire on Saturday.”
“The incident has seriously impacted the organisation’s ability to move humanitarian workers and aid in Sudan,” she said.
The United Nations has also condemned the killing of the WFP employees, saying they died while carrying out their duties.
The Head of United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission (UNITAMS), Volker Perthes, said in a statement, he was also, “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.”
The clashes which is an offshoot of a power struggle between army units loyal to General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, have so far claimed 56 civilians and wounded 595 people, including combatants, according to the Sudanese Doctors Union.