One person was killed in an airstrike targeting a convoy carrying aid supplies in Sudan’s South Kordofan region on Saturday, the World Food Program (WFP) said. Meanwhile, tensions gripped Port Sudan following a horrible murder that shocked the city. In a statement issued on Sunday, the UN agency strongly condemned the aerial attack that hit two contracted trucks carrying WFP food commodities in South Kordofan. The WFP trucks were travelling on Saturday between the two cities of Dilling and Kadugli when they came under attack, despite being “clearly marked as humanitarian vehicles,” WFP said, according to AFP. “One driver was killed in the air strike,” it added, without specifying who was behind the attack. Famine was confirmed last year in South Kordofan's Kadugli, and in El-Fasher in the western Darfur region, as fighting and access restrictions continue to hamper aid deliveries. On Friday, a WFP truck had struck an explosive device in Dilling after delivering lifesaving food assistance. The agency said it was assessing the damage and called for a prompt investigation into the incident. Movement is difficult across much of western and southern Sudan due to damaged infrastructure, blocked roads and disrupted communications, as violence continues to escalate. Both the army and the RSF have increasingly deployed drones in recent months, with the high-tech weapons killing more than 1,100 people in the first half of the year alone, according to UN figures. Since the war began in April 2023, more than 200,000 people were killed, aid workers estimate, while more than 11 million are displaced, creating the world’s largest hunger and displacement crises. Meanwhile, tension rose in Port Sudan on Sunday after the body of a resident was discovered near a hospital. Sudanese newspaper Sout al-Umma (Voice of the Nation) quoted a local source as saying that the killing triggered anger among the victim’s relatives, who took to the streets, blocking some roads with stones and setting tyres on fire to prevent vehicles from passing. The protestors asked authorities in the Red Sea city to make progress in identifying those responsible, according to dpa. Several Sudanese states, including Khartoum, are facing growing security challenges, including widespread lawlessness, the proliferation of weapons, gang activity and rising crime rates, amid efforts to restore normal civilian life and basic services. Observers say the war has severely degraded state institutions and triggered a surge in criminal activity across Sudan.
