Sudan’s two main warring factions are accusing each other of attacking a U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) convoy in North Darfur, an area suffering from severe hunger.

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The strike happened north of al-Fashir, the Sudanese army’s only remaining stronghold in the wider Darfur region, where an estimated 300,000 residents have been trapped under a long-running siege by the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Reuters reported.

The conflict began in April 2023 as a power struggle between the army and the RSF and has since escalated into what the United Nations describes as the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. Aid deliveries have often been blocked or attacked by both sides.

WFP confirmed the latest attack: “On 20 August, a WFP convoy of 16 trucks carrying life-saving food aid for the most vulnerable populations in Alsayah village came under attack near Mellit, a famine-affected area in North Darfur,” the agency said.

“Three of the trucks caught fire but no one was hurt.”

The RSF accused the Sudanese army of carrying out the strike, saying it was part of drone attacks on Mellit market and nearby locations.

The army denied the claim, calling it “a fabrication to distract from what it termed the RSF’s crimes in al-Fashir.”

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The siege of al-Fashir by the RSF has cut off vital supplies and driven up food prices.

Experts say famine had already taken hold in some parts of the area last year.

Civilians have been targeted by artillery, drone strikes, and direct assaults. Camps for displaced people have faced repeated attacks.

Local activists reported that more than 40 people were killed last week, including by direct gunfire, after RSF forces entered the Abu Shouk camp in northern al-Fashir.

The RSF denied involvement. People trying to flee al-Fashir face RSF checkpoints and the risk of attacks, including sexual violence.

Around 70 trucks carrying food, medical supplies, and kits for gender-based violence survivors are waiting in Nyala, a city controlled by the RSF, but cannot move forward without security guarantees, said Edem Wosornu of the U.N. humanitarian agency OCHA.

“We have food, we have medical supplies, we have kits for gender-based violence, we have life-saving equipment that will save lives,” Wosornu said.

U.S. senior Africa advisor Massad Boulos, who last week urged the RSF to allow aid into al-Fashir, condemned the strike on the WFP convoy.

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Image Credit: Asharq Al-Awsat