Sudanese gunmen looted a United Nations World Food Program warehouse in El Fashar, the capital of Sudan’s North Darfur state. The gunmen stole over 1,900 metric tons of food commodities that were to be used to feed 730,000 people for a month in the Tuesday night heist, the UN secretary-general said in a statement.
“The Secretary-General strongly condemns the continued looting and attacks against United Nations facilities, equipment and supplies gifted to the Sudanese authorities for civilian use in El Fasher, Darfur,” the statement also said. It called on the government of Sudan “to restore order, and to ensure that the former property and assets of the former United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur, UNAMID, are employed strictly for civilian use, in conformity with the Framework Agreement the Government signed with the United Nations in March this year.”
The joint UN and African Union mission, UNAMID, ended its peacekeeping operations last December that began 13 years ago, following a peace deal signed with some rebel groups. There has been unrest in the region in recent months due to fighting between livestock herders over land and water resources. At the same time, Sudan suffered a military coup in October.
More than 14 million people in Sudan will need humanitarian aid over the next year, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.