World Food Programme says three staff killed in Sudan by aerial strike

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CAIRO/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday that three of its staff were killed in war-torn Sudan’s Blue Nile state on Thursday after an aerial strike on its compound.

“Any loss of life in humanitarian service is unconscionable. Humanitarians are not, and must never be, a target,” WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain said. “I demand a thorough investigation and for the perpetrators to be held accountable.”

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was outraged by the killings, his spokesperson said.

In a statement the Sudanese government expressed its condolences for the deaths, and condemned any attack on aid workers or the U.N. It said it would investigate the incident, but added that the army did not have any activities in the area.

War erupted in Sudan in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule, triggering the world’s largest displacement and hunger crisis.

“WFP remains committed to delivering humanitarian assistance across Sudan, including in Blue Nile State. WFP will stay and deliver vital food and nutrition aid across all locations in Sudan. This is what our fallen colleagues would have wanted,” McCain said in statement.

(Reporting by Nafisa El Taher and Michelle Nichols, Writing by Menna Alaa and Michelle Nichols; Editing by Alison Williams and Andrew Cawthorne)