First war-time aid convoy reaches besieged south Khartoum

First aid convoy reaches besieged area in Sudan after 20 months, providing crucial supplies to 200,000 children and families.

“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 (December 27, 2024).

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

Since the war began in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, nothing has gone in or out without both parties' approval.

ERR volunteers endured months of negotiations, constant suspicion and threats of violence to secure even limited access.