A United Nations aid convoy en route to the besieged city of El-Fasher in North Darfur was attacked late Monday night in the town of El-Koma, resulting in multiple deaths and injuries, the UN confirmed Tuesday. The assault highlights the growing dangers humanitarian workers face amid Sudan’s escalating civil war. Initial reports indicate that four UN personnel were killed and two others injured. The UN has not attributed blame for the incident, but both sides in Sudan’s war—the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF)—have traded accusations.
According to a Sudanese government statement, RSF fighters ambushed the convoy, killing “guards, drivers, and civilians.” Meanwhile, RSF spokesperson Basha Tabiq claimed on “X” that the deaths were caused by an army-led airstrike on El-Koma, a town under RSF control and frequently targeted in the conflict.
Local volunteer group El-Koma Emergency Room shared video footage of a burned-out aid truck loaded with sacks, blaming the attack on SAF drone strikes. The group said at least 89 people were killed or wounded on Sunday after army air raids struck a market area, an allegation the military has not publicly addressed.
The UN convoy was preparing to deliver aid to El-Fasher, the last remaining major city in North Darfur still held by the Sudanese army. The city has been under sustained RSF assault for over a year, and is now facing widespread famine and infrastructural collapse. The ongoing war, which erupted in April 2023 after a power struggle between army chief Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, has displaced more than 10 million people, including over four million forced to flee the country, according to the UN refugee agency.
What began as a joint coup by the two factions to derail Sudan’s democratic transition has since devolved into one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, marked by widespread atrocities, famine, and the near-total breakdown of civil governance. UN agencies have repeatedly called for safe humanitarian access, but attacks on aid workers and convoys have surged, particularly in Darfur, where both sides face accusations of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
