First war-time aid convoy reaches besieged south Khartoum

Cairo: Civilians in a besieged area south of Sudan s war torn capital received their first aid convoy this week since the war began 20 months ago, loc...

Cairo: Civilians in a besieged area south of Sudan's war-torn capital received their first aid convoy this week since the war began 20 months ago, local volunteers said.

A total of 28 trucks arrived in the Jebel Awliya area, just south of Khartoum, the state's emergency response room (ERR), part of a volunteer network coordinating frontline aid across Sudan, said Friday.

The convoy included 22 trucks carrying food from the UN's World Food Programme (WFP), one truck from Doctors Without Borders and Care, and five trucks loaded with medicine from the UN children's agency, UNICEF.

The local group and UNICEF said the supplies would help meet the "urgent health and nutrition needs of an estimated 200,000 children and families".

Jebel Awliya is one of many areas across Sudan facing mass starvation after warring parties cut off access.