On Thursday, the World Food Program accused the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan of looting food supplies estimated at 2,500 tons after storming the headquarters and warehouse of the organization in the state of “Gezira”.
In a statement, WFP condemned “the looting of food supplies from its headquarters in Gezira state (centre) last weekend, after RSF elements stormed the warehouse and office, following their takeover of the city of Wad Madani.”
The warehouse “contains enough stock to feed some 1.5 million severely food-insecure people for one month on the island.
Looted foodstuffs such as pulses, sorghum, vegetable oils and nutritional supplements are estimated at more than 2,500 tonnes of food, he said, which are life-saving.
The aim of these specialized nutritious foods was to prevent malnutrition and support its treatment for more than 20,000 pregnant and lactating children and women through health centers supported by the World Food Programme, according to the same statement.
The statement quoted WFP Regional Director for East Africa, Michael Dunford, as saying: “This is intolerable and must stop.”
“In areas under their control, the RSF must ensure the protection of humanitarian aid, staff and buildings.”
A week ago, the World Food Program announced the suspension of its food aid in various parts of the state of “Gezira”, due to the continued escalation of violence south and east of the capital, Khartoum.
The RSF had no comment on the WFP statement as of 18:05 GMT.
Since December 15, the state of “Gezira” has joined the war cycle, in a development that was not in the calculations of the Sudanese, and it is the state bordering Khartoum from the south, with a high population density, and was a destination for those displaced from the fighting in Khartoum.
Some 300,000 people have fled Gezira state as clashes erupted, creating a dire humanitarian crisis, in the latest wave of large-scale displacement after fighting spread across the region, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said in a statement on Thursday.
The matter worsened when the Rapid Support Forces led by Mohamed Hamdan Daglo “Hemedti” took control of the city of Wad Madani, the state capital, on December 18, after battles with an army force that lasted about 4 days.
Since mid-April, Sudan’s army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been fighting a war that has left more than 12,000 dead and more than 6 million displaced and refugees, according to the United Nations.
