Food relief agency resumes Sudan operations after staff deaths forced halt
The United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) has Monday resumed operations in Sudan, two weeks after stopping work when three of its staff members were killed amid fighting which has rocked the country.
“As the crisis in Sudan pushes millions into hunger, WFP is immediately lifting the temporary suspension put in place after the tragic deaths of our team members,” Executive Director Cindy McCain wrote on Twitter. “WFP is rapidly resuming our programs to provide the life-saving assistance that many so desperately need right now.”
On April 15, clashes broke out across Sudan between forces loyal to two rival generals: Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the country’s de facto ruler, and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti. Other countries have scrambled to evacuate their citizens.
The following day, the WFP said three of its staff had been killed and two more injured in “violence” while on duty in the North Darfur region. It called a temporary halt to its operations to review the security situation.
Sudan was already facing a dire hunger crisis before the outbreak of violence, which “could plunge millions more into hunger,” the WFP said.
In an interview last month, before fighting in Sudan started, McCain told POLITICO that the world faced a potentially “catastrophic” hunger crisis this year, and called on non-Western countries to contribute more.
