Convoy attacks hitting Darfur aid efforts, U.N. food agency said

GENEVA, April 1, 2005 (AP) — The U.N. food aid agency said Friday that attacks on aid convoys have affected efforts to help around 2 million people in Sudan ‘s embattled Darfur region.

A convoy of 6X6 all-terrain trucks, funded by the United States Agency for International Development, was delayed in El-Fasher for several days because of fighting on the road out of town. (WFP).

“The security situation is so bad that many drivers are now refusing to move through sections of the road corridors to the three Darfur states,” said Ramiro Lopes da Silva, a senior World Food Program official who is steering the agency’s operation in the Sudanese region.

A driver of a WFP truck was shot to death in January, while others have been taken hostage and two are missing, the agency said in a statement. In recent weeks, a driver was shot and wounded, another had his hands broken and others were severely beaten.

“These attacks are completely unconscionable,” said a statement from Lopes da Silva. “They create a climate of fear that together with truck seizures pose a real threat to our ability to deliver food.”

Thirteen WFP trucks are missing after a string of raids. Eight of them are known to be held by rebels from the Sudan Liberation Army, WFP said.

The Darfur conflict began two years ago, pitting the Sudan Liberation Army and another rebel group against Sudanese forces and government-backed militias.

The conflict has forced more than 2 million people to flee their homes. The number of dead is now estimated at 180,000.

WFP is feeding 2.3 million people but expects the number in need to rise to 2.8 million in coming months.

“We are doing everything we can to get food to those who need it,” said Lopes da Silva. “But banditry, conflict and insecurity makes this an uphill battle.”