‘Multiple casualties’ reported as trucks carrying vital supplies to famine-hit El Fasher come under fire in latest assault on humanitarian workers
A United Nations aid convoy carrying desperately needed food supplies to starving children and families was attacked overnight in war-torn Sudan, with reports of “multiple casualties” emerging from the ambush.
The convoy of 15 World Food Programme and UNICEF trucks was struck while positioned in Al-Koma, North Darfur, as they waited for approval to proceed to the besieged city of El Fasher – where famine conditions have left hundreds of thousands facing starvation.
The attack represents yet another devastating blow to humanitarian efforts in Sudan, where a brutal civil war has created what UN officials describe as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
CONVOY AMBUSHED IN DARKNESS
The aid trucks, loaded with life-saving food supplies for children and families in El Fasher, were attacked late Monday night while stationed in Al-Koma, according to UNICEF spokesperson Eva Hinds.
We have received information about a convoy with WFP and UNICEF trucks being attacked last night while positioned in Al Koma, North Darfur, waiting for approval to proceed to al-Fashir,” Hinds told reporters in Geneva.
She added that initial reports indicated “multiple casualties” but declined to provide specific numbers or identify those responsible for the assault.
The Sudanese government quickly blamed the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for the attack, claiming that “guards, drivers and civilians” had been killed in the assault.
However, in a familiar pattern of finger-pointing, the RSF blamed the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), claiming the convoy was hit by an army airstrike.
FAMINE-HIT CITY CUT OFF
The attack is particularly devastating as the convoy was heading to El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, where conditions have deteriorated to catastrophic levels.
The city, home to more than 800,000 people, has been under siege by RSF forces for over a year, with the paramilitary group cutting off supply routes and repeatedly shelling populated areas.
Famine conditions have been confirmed in El Fasher and surrounding camps, with children dying from malnutrition as aid agencies struggle to deliver food through active war zones.
The city remains the last major urban centre in Darfur still under government control, making it a key battleground in Sudan’s devastating civil war.
WORLD’S WORST HUMANITARIAN CRISIS
Sudan’s conflict, which erupted in April 2023 between the SAF led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the RSF commanded by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, has created a humanitarian catastrophe of staggering proportions.
The shocking statistics paint a picture of unimaginable suffering:
- Over 61,000 people killed in Khartoum State alone
- 8.8 million internally displaced within Sudan
- 3.5 million fled as refugees to neighbouring countries
- 25.6 million people facing crisis levels of hunger
- 522,000 children estimated to have died from famine
More than half of Sudan’s population – around 26 million people – are now facing “crisis levels” of hunger, with 755,000 in catastrophic conditions facing imminent risk of starvation.
The attack on Monday’s convoy is just the latest in a series of assaults on humanitarian workers trying to deliver aid to desperate civilians.
In April, at least nine aid workers were killed in an attack on Zamzam camp for internally displaced people, while 23 children also lost their lives in the assault.
The violence has forced many aid organisations to suspend operations, creating a vicious cycle where those most in need are cut off from life-saving assistance.
The aid looted from convoys will no longer go to the most vulnerable people in need,” Clementine Nkweta-Salami, the UN’s top humanitarian official for Sudan, has warned about previous attacks.
CHILDREN BEARING THE BRUNT
The human cost of the conflict is most starkly illustrated by its impact on children. UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell revealed that more than 140 children have been killed or maimed in El Fasher alone over the past three months.
In North Darfur, an estimated 146,000 children will suffer from severe acute malnutrition in 2025 – the deadliest form of malnutrition. Severely malnourished children are up to 11 times more likely to die than well-nourished children.
Despite the dangers, UN agencies have been desperately trying to deliver aid. UNICEF has reached close to 5.5 million children with nutritional screening and treated more than 322,000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition since the conflict began.
GENOCIDE CHARGES
In January 2025, the United States made the significant determination that the RSF and allied militias had committed genocide in Sudan, particularly targeting ethnic groups in Darfur.
The violence has been especially brutal against the Masalit population, with the UN discovering numerous mass graves containing civilians. The RSF and allied Arab militias have been accused of systematically killing lawyers, human rights monitors, doctors and non-Arab tribal leaders.
The current violence in Darfur echoes the genocide of the early 2000s, when government-backed Janjaweed militias – the predecessors of today’s RSF – killed hundreds of thousands of people.
WORLD LOOKS AWAY
Despite being described as facing the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, Sudan’s plight has been largely overshadowed by other conflicts, leaving millions to suffer in relative obscurity.
International peace efforts have repeatedly failed, with talks in Saudi Arabia, the United States and under African Union auspices achieving no meaningful breakthroughs.
As the war enters its third year, both sides appear determined to fight to the bitter end, regardless of the catastrophic cost to civilians.
UN officials are desperately calling for immediate international intervention to prevent further civilian casualties and allow humanitarian access.
These unconscionable acts of violence against civilians, children and aid workers must end immediately,” UNICEF has declared. “Children must be protected from this senseless violence, and humanitarian workers must never be targets.”
The agencies have mobilised a large-scale humanitarian response both inside Sudan and in neighbouring countries where more than 2 million refugees have sought safety.
But without an immediate ceasefire and sustained humanitarian access, millions more Sudanese face starvation, disease and death in what has become a forgotten catastrophe.
As one aid worker grimly noted: “Every convoy attacked means thousands more children who won’t receive the food they desperately need to survive. Time is running out.”
Image: WFP truck. Blokha.jpg
Author: Alex Blokha
License: CC BY-SA 4.0
Source: Wikimedia Commons
