The northeast African country has been in crossfire for more than 24 hours from the army and its paramilitary rivals. The conflict has already killed at least 56 civilians in 24 hours.
Three World Food Program (WFP) aid workers have been killed in the fighting in Sudan, the UN envoy announced on Sunday in the Northeast African country under crossfire for more than 24 hours from the army. and its paramilitary rivals. Paris reacted by expressing its “dismay” in a press release published on Sunday evening.
They were killed “Saturday while doing their work in North Darfur”, in the west near Chad, which closed its border on Saturday because of the violence, said Volker Perthes in a press release.
He adds that “humanitarian buildings have been hit and others looted in Darfur”, a historic bastion of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo, known as “Hemedti”, won by fighting between the army and paramilitaries.
Those responsible must be “brought to justice”
Those responsible for the death of these three WFP aid workers must be “brought to justice as soon as possible”, also claimed on Sunday the spokesman for the Secretary General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres.
Antonio Guterres “strongly condemns” the death of civilians, including that of these three humanitarians, added his spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric in a press release.
“The premises of the United Nations and other humanitarian organizations were also hit by projectiles and looted in several places in Darfur”, he regretted.
The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs also expressed “its dismay”, and reiterated its call to “do everything possible to put an end to the fighting and prevent any escalation”.
At least 56 civilian deaths in 24 hours
The UN Security Council will address the situation in Sudan behind closed doors on Monday, diplomatic sources told AFP, as fighting pits the Sudanese army against a powerful paramilitary force on Sunday for the second day in a row, on power struggle between the two generals in command since the 2021 putsch, killing at least 56 civilians in 24 hours.
In addition, “dozens” of fighters have been mowed down by bullets, rockets and other projectiles fired from tanks or planes since Saturday morning, reports a network of pro-democracy doctors, which lists more than 600 wounded. Rifles, artillery and combat aircraft were used in the capital and several cities of this country of 45 million inhabitants, one of the poorest in the world and torn by decades of war, which is sinking into chaos.
The conflict had been simmering for weeks
The conflict had been simmering for weeks, preventing any political settlement in a country which has been trying since the popular revolt that overthrew Omar al-Bashir in 2019 to organize its first free elections after 30 years of dictatorship.
During the putsch that ended the democratic transition in October 2021, the head of the army Abdel Fattah al-Burhane and the boss of the FSR, Mohamed Hamdane Daglo, known as “Hemedti”, appeared together, forming a common front to oust the power civilians. But the rivalry between the two generals, latent for weeks, exploded on Saturday in Khartoum which woke up to the sound of explosions and fighting.
