December 23, Nairobi — Three staff members of the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) were killed in Yabus, Blue Nile state, after their field office was struck by an airstrike on December 19.
Those killed in southeastern Sudan were the head of the field office, a program associate and a security guard in an evening attack, the WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain said in a statement. They were carrying out “life-saving duties on the frontlines of one of the world’s largest hunger crises.”
2024 has been the deadliest year on record for aid workers in Sudan, according to the UN. The attacks received international condemnation.
The UN Secretary-General António Gutteres condemned the attack and demanded a thorough investigation. He also reiterated demands for an immediate ceasefire of the conflict. The Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs also pledged to investigate the attack in Yabus.
The Yabus area, near the Ethiopian border, is under control of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North, led by Abdelaziz El Hilu. The SPLM-North, a secular organization, was part of the same rebellion that led to the creation of South Sudan under the terms of a 2005 peace agreement.
The group accused the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) of killing the WFP workers in a “deliberate attack.”
Earlier this month, there were clashes between SAF and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Blue Nile state.