UN WFP convoy drivers robbed in North Darfur

The drivers of two lorries of commercial transporters, carrying goods for the UN World Food Programme (WFP), were stopped, and robbed by armed men riding motorcycles in North Darfur on Saturday. The WFP has confirmed that after being robbed of their valuables, the drivers were left to proceed, and there was no looting of any WFP commodities.

The WFP spokesperson told Radio Dabanga that the convoy was attacked by armed men at Eidelnabaa, between Kabkabiya and Sortony in North Darfur.

The convoy was carrying food items for the displaced people at Sortony camp, including lentils, sorghum, and cooking oil. The WFP says that following the attack, the drivers also returned safely to El Obeid from Sortony.

The spokesman of the Displaced Commission, Adam Rijal, said in a press statement via the official Sudan News Agency (SUNA) that the vehicles were on their way from the North Darfur capital of El Fasher to Sortony camp, when the gunmen threatened the drivers and their assistants.

Earlier this month, the UN WFP partially resumed its operations in North Darfur after more than a month’s suspension following a series of attacks and looting of all three of its warehouses in El Fasher in December 2021.

WFP Executive Director David Beasley expressed “outrage at the senseless attacks”. The WFP said at the time that the suspension could affect close to two million people in the area in 2022.