Sudan is moving towards a hunger catastrophe. The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) announced today that it is temporarily suspending the delivery of aid to parts of Sudan due to fighting between the army and Rapid Support Forces (FAR) that has advanced in recent days. to the state of Gezira, southeast of Khartoum, the country’s capital.
The organization described the decision as a “major setback” in its efforts to serve a desperate population since the conflict began in April.
In the area from which the WFP is temporarily withdrawing there are more than 800,000 people whom the organization served daily. More than 300,000 Sudanese have fled the area since December 15, when fighting began in this territory.
The director of the WFP in Sudan, Eddie Rowe, regretted that an area that had served as a refuge for thousands of Sudanese, “has now become a battlefield in a war that has already claimed a terrible toll among civilians. “.
Rowe demanded that, in order to serve those in need, the security of its personnel and facilities be guaranteed and that both sides of the war comply with International Humanitarian Law.
The conflict in Sudan was sparked by a power struggle between two of the country’s most powerful generals: the head of the Sudanese armed forces, Abdel Fatah al Burhan, and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, alias Hemedti, leader of the FAR, whose origin are the terrible Janjawid militias, which perpetrated atrocities in Darfur.
The two soldiers joined forces in 2021 to carry out a joint coup d’état and end the democratic transition after a revolution that led to the overthrow of dictator Omar Al Bashir, in power since 1989.
Both Hemedti and Burhan did not see well the democratic opening of the country and conspired to avoid ceding power, losing economic privileges and being held accountable for their abuses. The disagreement between both generals over the future of the transition to a civilian government, and especially over who should lead the armed forces and the incorporation of the 100,000 FAR soldiers into the army, sparked an all-out conflict.
The United States has accused both sides of committing war crimes in a conflict with international edges: Egypt and Iran support the Sudanese army while the United Arab Emirates provides support to the FAR.
