UAE condemns aid convoy attack that killed five in Sudan

Lorries came under attack while carrying food to besieged El Fasher

The convoy of lorries was sent by Unicef and the World Food Programme. Reuters

The UAE on Wednesday condemned an attack on a convoy in Sudan that killed five aid workers, in what it called a "flagrant violation" of the laws of war.

The convoy of 15 lorries carrying food to the famine-stricken city of El Fasher came under attack in North Darfur late on Monday. Five were killed and several others injured, said the World Food Programme and Unicef, the two UN agencies involved.

It is not known who was responsible. El Fasher has been under siege by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since May last year, and famine conditions have been reported in the city and in nearby displacement camps during Sudan's civil war.

The UAE's Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on both sides in Sudan's war – the army and the RSF – to "respect their obligations" and uphold pledges to protect civilians.

The attack was a "flagrant violation of international humanitarian law", and aid personnel "must be respected and protected", the ministry said. It called for "immediate steps to protect civilians and facilitate the rapid and unhindered access of essential humanitarian aid through all available means."

The convoy had travelled more than 1,800km from the army's wartime capital of Port Sudan, said the agencies involved, in what would have been the UN's first such entry into the city for more than a year. They were "negotiating access" to El Fasher when the attack was launched.