UN condemns k*****g of 3 World Food Programme staff in Sudan

By , K24 Digital
On Sun, 16 Apr, 2023 17:08 | 2 mins read
Heavy smoke bellows above buildings in the vicinity of the Khartoum's airport on April 15, 2023, amid clashes in the Sudanese capital. PHOTO/Courtesy

The United Nations condemned the killing of three World Food Programme employees amid fighting in Sudan on Saturday, saying the three died while carrying out their duties.

Volker Perthes, the head of the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission (UNITAMS) said on Sunday that the three WFP employees were killed in clashes in Kabkabiya in North Darfur a day earlier.

“I also am extremely appalled by reports of projectiles hitting UN and other humanitarian premises, as well as reports of looting of UN and other humanitarian premises in several locations in Darfur,” Perthes, who is also the special envoy for the UN secretary general for Sudan, added in his statement.

A power struggle between Sudan's army and a notorious paramilitary force has rocked the country, with more than 50 civilians reported dead.

Residents dodged gunfire in the capital, Khartoum, as rival forces battled over the presidential palace, state TV, and army headquarters.

Twenty-five people, including 17 civilians, have died in the city, a doctors' organisation said.

The clashes erupted after tensions over a proposed transition to civilian rule.

Both the army and its opponents, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), claimed they had control of the airport and other key sites in Khartoum, where fighting continued overnight.

Heavy artillery was heard in Omdurman, which adjoins Khartoum, and nearby Bahri in the early hours of Sunday morning. Eyewitnesses also reported gunfire in the Red Sea city of Port Sudan.

The army said jets were hitting RSF bases, and the country's air force told people to remain in their homes on Saturday night while it conducted a full aerial survey of paramilitary activity.

Residents of Khartoum told the BBC of their panic and fear, with one describing bullets being fired at the house next door.

At least 56 civilians have been killed in cities and regions around the country, a Sudanese doctors' committee said, adding that dozens of military personnel were dead, some of whom had been treated in hospitals.

In total, at least 595 people had been injured, it said.

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