Switzerland condemns deadly attack on UN convoy in Sudan

Switzerland condemns deadly attack on UN convoy in Sudan Keystone-SDA

Switzerland has strongly condemned the deadly attack on a United Nations humanitarian convoy in Sudan in which five people were killed.

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The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) issued its condemnation on the social media platform X.

As a member of the ALPS Group, Switzerland also called on the parties to the conflict to urgently allow humanitarian aid in accordance with international humanitarian law (IHL) and recognised humanitarian principles. “Humanitarian aid workers must never be a target,” the Swiss UN representation also wrote on X.

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According to the UN, the incident occurred on Tuesday in the embattled Sudanese region of North Darfur. According to UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, the attack took place near the village of Al-Koma, around 80 kilometres north-east of the city of El Fascher. It was probably a drone attack. It is not yet clear who was behind the attack.

According to the FDFA, the vehicles in the convoy, organised by the World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN children’s charity Unicef, had previously travelled around 1,800 kilometres through difficult and dangerous terrain and were waiting at the side of the road for further permission to pass when they were attacked.

“We condemn this appalling act of violence against humanitarian personnel in the strongest possible terms,” said Dujarric. “These people are literally risking their lives to reach needy children and families in famine-stricken regions.”

Government troops under de facto ruler Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan have been fighting for supremacy in the north-east African country of Sudan against the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia since April 2023. According to UN figures, almost 12.4 million people have fled within the country or to neighbouring states. Hundreds of thousands are at risk of starvation.

Translated from German by DeepL/mga

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