Khartoum, (Nabaa Sudan) – The rebel Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia has detained 32 trucks carrying World Food Programme (WFP) humanitarian assistance destined for thousands of war-affected families in North Darfur, in a new violation of humanitarian operations.
Director of Social Welfare and Humanitarian Aid Coordinator of the Darfur Regional Government Engineer Abdel-Bagi Mohamed Hamid said a convoy of 60 trucks entered through the Al-Tina border crossing last week, carrying food supplies for the localities of Kabkabiya, Al-Sereif, Kutum, Tina, Kornoy, Om Baru and Mellit, as well as Al-Sayah and Sortony.
Speaking to SUNA on Sunday, he said 16 trucks were distributed in Mellit and Al-Sayah before the militia intercepted the remaining 44 trucks in Kutum and forcibly took them to El-Fasher. After three days, 12 trucks were released, while 32 remain detained after large sums of money were demanded as ransom for their release.
He said the aid was urgently intended for displaced families facing the risk of famine, describing the detention as a full-fledged war crime aimed at starving civilians, using food as a weapon and deliberately obstructing humanitarian operations.
Abdel-Bagi reaffirmed the regional government’s commitment to facilitating humanitarian operations and called on the international community and the United Nations to condemn the detention and pressure the militia to release the trucks immediately and unconditionally.
The incident comes amid UN warnings of a worsening food crisis in Darfur, where more than 60 percent of the population relies on humanitarian assistance. Any obstruction of relief convoys poses a direct threat to thousands of lives and constitutes a violation of international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions.
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