KHARTOUM, Sudan

Sudan accused the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Saturday of carrying out a drone attack targeting a humanitarian aid convoy belonging to the UN World Food Programme (WFP) in North Kordofan state in southern Sudan, resulting in casualties and the destruction of relief supplies.

In a statement, Sudan’s Foreign Ministry said the government “condemns the criminal attack carried out by the RSF militia on Friday,” accusing it of using drones to target WFP trucks in North Kordofan.

The ministry said the trucks were transporting food assistance to civilians in the areas of Allah Kareem, Es Samih, Al-Rahad, and the city of Um Rawaba in North Kordofan.

It noted that the attack caused casualties but did not specify how many, as well as the destruction of relief materials intended for humanitarian response.

The Foreign Ministry stressed that “targeting relief convoys and humanitarian assets constitutes a grave violation of the principles of international humanitarian law and represents a deliberate undermining of efforts to deliver humanitarian assistance to those in need.”

It added that “this attack does not represent an isolated incident, but rather a continuation of a pattern adopted by the militia to obstruct humanitarian work and use deprivation of food as a means of pressure against civilians.”

The ministry called on the international community to clearly condemn these practices and take the necessary measures to ensure accountability for the RSF and its supporters.

As of 1000GMT, the RSF had not commented on the incident.

Meanwhile, the US condemned the RSF drone attack on the WFP convoy in Sudan’s North Kordofan state that killed one person and injured three others.

“The United States condemns the recent drone attack on a World Food Program convoy in North Kordofan transporting food to famine-stricken people which killed one and wounded many others,” US Senior Adviser for Arab and African Affairs Massad Boulos wrote on the US social media company X.

Of Sudan’s 18 states, the RSF controls all five states in the western Darfur region, except for parts of North Darfur that remain under army control. The army holds most areas of the remaining 13 states across the south, north, east, and center of the country, including the capital, Khartoum.

The conflict between the Sudanese army and the RSF, which erupted in April 2023, has killed thousands of people and displaced millions.

*Writing by Rania Abushamala in Istanbul