The World Food Programme said this week that an airstrike hit two of its trucks carrying food aid in Dilling, in Sudan's South Kordofan region, over the weekend, destroying supplies meant for civilians in need.
Sudan has been gripped by a devastating internal conflict since April 2023, when fighting broke out between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The war has displaced millions of people inside and outside the country and has repeatedly disrupted the delivery of food, medicine, and other humanitarian supplies. Aid organizations, including the World Food Programme, have warned for more than two years that parts of Sudan face famine conditions or are at serious risk of them, and convoys moving through contested areas have faced delays, looting, and, as in this case, direct damage from strikes.
South Kordofan, where Dilling is located, sits along one of the fault lines of the conflict and has seen repeated fighting and displacement. Aid access to the region has been difficult throughout the war, with humanitarian organizations frequently reporting that convoys are unable to reach the people who need them most.
The loss of two truckloads of food aid may sound small against the scale of Sudan's crisis, but aid officials note that every disrupted convoy represents meals that do not reach families already living with severe shortages. The World Food Programme and other agencies continue to call for safe humanitarian corridors so that aid can move without interruption.
Aid agencies are expected to continue pressing for safe passage guarantees, and for expanded funding to Sudan's humanitarian response as the conflict continues.
Where did the strike on the aid trucks happen?
In Dilling, a town in Sudan's South Kordofan region, according to the World Food Programme.
How long has Sudan's conflict been going on?
Since April 2023, when fighting broke out between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces.