Five killed after UN aid trucks attacked en route to el-Fasher

Five members of a United Nations convoy carrying aid to the war-torn Sudanese city of el-Fasher have been killed in an attack, UN agencies have said.

Several people were also injured and multiple trucks burnt in Monday night’s assault, which took place near el-Koma in the state of North Darfur, they added.

The two sides in Sudan’s gruelling civil war – the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the regular army – have accused each other of striking the UN convoy with drones.

The UN did not say how the attack happened, but called for an urgent investigation and for the perpetrators to be held to account.

The convoy was made up of 15 trucks from the UN’s food and children’s agencies, who said it was “devastating” that the aid did not reach “famine-stricken” el-Fasher.

El-Fasher is the last major location in North Darfur under army control. Civilians and military personnel there have been under attack by the RSF for over a year.

The convoy was attempting to reach children and families in the city with life-saving food and nutrition supplies when it was attacked, said the joint statement from the World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN children’s agency Unicef.

Following the attack, the el-Koma Emergency Room, a group of local volunteer responders, posted a video of a burnt out truck loaded with sacks of supplies on Facebook. The group blamed the attack on the Sudanese army.

El-Koma, which is controlled by the RSF, has previously been the target of frequent attacks in the conflict between the paramilitary group and the army.

Assaults on the city have resulted in civilian deaths and damaged key infrastructure.

The el-Koma Emergency Room said at least 89 people were killed or injured after Sudanese army warplanes launched airstrikes in the town on Sunday. The army has not responded to this accusation.

According to the Sudan Tribune news website, the planes struck a busy market in el-Koma.

The war, which began more than two years ago, has created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

On Tuesday Eujin Byun, a spokesperson for the UN refugee agency, said more than four million people have fled since the beginning of the conflict.

The civil war broke out in 2023 following a vicious struggle for power between the army and the RSF.

The two had jointly staged a coup to derail Sudan’s transition to democracy, before their commanders fell out.