ֱ

Sudan’s warring sides target local aid volunteers fighting famine

Sudan’s warring sides target local aid volunteers fighting famine
1 / 3
A Sudanese woman from a community kitchen, run by local volunteers, prepares a meal for people who are affected by conflict and extreme hunger and are out of reach of international aid efforts, in Omdurman. (Reuters)
Sudan’s warring sides target local aid volunteers fighting famine
2 / 3
Sudanese women from community kitchens, run by local volunteers, prepare meals for people who are affected by conflict and extreme hunger and are out of reach of international aid efforts, in Omdurman, Sudan. (Reuters)
Sudan’s warring sides target local aid volunteers fighting famine
3 / 3
Sudanese women from community kitchens run by local volunteers prepare meals for people who are affected by conflict and extreme hunger and are out of reach of international aid efforts, in Omdurman, Sudan. (Reuters)
Short Url
Updated 08 October 2024

Sudan’s warring sides target local aid volunteers fighting famine

Sudan’s warring sides target local aid volunteers fighting famine
  • Arrests and looting hinder Sudan’s community kitchens
  • Some have stopped serving meals for weeks in areas at risk of famine
  • Donors have ramped up support, but volunteers say this is making them a target for troops

KHARTOUM: Local volunteers who have helped to feed Sudan’s most destitute during 17 months of war say attacks against them by the opposing sides are making it difficult to provide life-saving aid amid the world’s biggest hunger crisis.
Many volunteers have fled under threat of arrest or violence, and communal kitchens they set up in a country where hundreds are estimated to be dying of starvation and hunger-related diseases each day have stopped serving meals for weeks at a time.
Reuters spoke with 24 volunteers who manage kitchens in Sudan’s central state of Khartoum, the western region of Darfur and parts of the east where millions of people have been driven from their homes since fighting erupted between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
International humanitarian agencies, which have been unable to get food aid to parts of Sudan at risk of famine, have ramped up support for such groups. But that has made them more of a target for RSF looters, 10 of the volunteers told Reuters by phone.
“We were safe when the RSF didn’t know about the funding,” said Gihad Salaheldin, a volunteer who left Khartoum city last year and spoke from Cairo. “They see our kitchens as a source of food.”
Both sides have also attacked or detained volunteers on suspicion of collaborating with their opponents, a dozen volunteers said.
Most of the volunteers spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.
One volunteer in Bahri, a city that together with Khartoum and Omdurman makes up Sudan’s greater capital, said troops in RSF uniforms stole the phone he used to receive donations via a mobile banking app along with 3 million Sudanese pounds ($1,200) in cash intended for food in June.
It was one of five incidents this year in which he says he was attacked or harassed by paramilitary troops who control neighborhoods where he oversees 21 kitchens serving around 10,000 people.
Later that month, troops burst into a home housing one of the kitchens in the middle of the night and stole sacks of sorghum and beans. The volunteer, who had been sleeping there, said he was bound, gagged and whipped for hours by troops who wanted to know who was funding the group.
Reuters could not independently verify his account, but three other volunteers said that he reported the events to the rest of the group at the time.
The frequency of such incidents increased as international funding for communal kitchens picked up heading into the summer, according to eight volunteers from Khartoum state, which is mostly controlled by the RSF.
Many kitchens do not keep data on attacks, while others declined to provide details for fear of drawing more unwanted attention. However, volunteers described to Reuters 25 incidents targeting their kitchens or volunteers in the state since July alone, including more thefts and beatings and the detention of at least 52 people.
Groups that run kitchens there have announced the deaths of at least three volunteers in armed attacks, including one they said was shot and killed by RSF troops in Khartoum’s SHajjarah neighborhood in September. The identities of the other assailants were not immediately clear, and Reuters could not verify the accounts.
“Community kitchens in Sudan are a lifeline for people who are trapped in areas with ongoing conflict,” said Eddie Rowe, the UN World Food Programme’s country director in Sudan.
“By supporting them, WFP is able to get food into the hands of hundreds of thousands of people at risk of famine, even in the face of severe access constraints,” he told Reuters, saying the safety of aid workers must be guaranteed.
The RSF and Sudanese Armed Forces did not respond to questions for this article. However, the RSF has previously denied targeting aid workers and said any rogue elements who did so would be brought to justice.
The military has also said it does not target aid workers, but anyone who collaborates with the “rebellious” RSF is subject to arrest.

Marauding troops
UN officials say more than half of Sudan’s population – 25.6 million people – are experiencing acute hunger and need urgent assistance. In the worst-hit areas, residents displaced by fighting or under siege in their homes have resorted to eating dirt and leaves.
Local volunteers founded hundreds of kitchens early in the war that served hot meals — typically a meagre porridge of sorghum, lentils or beans — once or twice a day. But as food prices soared and private donations dwindled, some had to close or reduce services to as little as five times a month.
In North Darfur state, a group that runs kitchens in a camp housing half a million people displaced by ethnically driven violence has repeatedly had to stop serving meals due to insufficient funds, a volunteer there said. A global authority on hunger crises said in August that the conflict and restrictions on aid deliveries have caused famine in the Zamzam camp.
Many communal kitchens are operated by a loose network of community groups known as emergency response rooms, which have tried to sustain basic services, such as water and power, and distribute food and medical supplies.
Both the army and RSF distrust these groups, in part because they include people who were members of grassroots “resistance committees” that led pro-democracy protests during the uprising that toppled former autocrat Omar Al-Bashir in 2019. The volunteers who spoke to Reuters said the objectives of the emergency response rooms are purely humanitarian.
The army joined forces with the RSF to derail the political transition that followed Bashir’s ouster by staging a military coup two years later, but rivalries between them erupted into open warfare in April 2023.
In the worst-hit areas, local volunteers said they were now being targeted weekly or every few days by marauding troops, compared to roughly once a month earlier in the year. Some have started hiding food supplies at different locations to avoid being cleaned out by a single raid.
Reuters spoke to nine volunteers who fled various parts of the country after being targeted by the warring sides.
“These attacks are having a huge negative impact on our work,” Salaheldin said from Cairo. “We are losing our volunteers who are serving their communities.”
In areas where the army retains control, six volunteers described arrests and surveillance that they said drove away people who had helped run kitchens, reducing their capacity to operate.
A UN fact-finding mission discovered that, of 65 cases tried by army-convened courts against alleged “commanders and employees” of the RSF as of June, 63 targeted activists and humanitarian workers. They included members of emergency response rooms, the mission said in its report.
Both sides have deployed siege-like tactics to prevent food and other supplies reaching their opponents, according to relief workers. The RSF and allied militias have also looted aid hubs and plundered harvests, they say.
The warring parties have traded blame for delays in the delivery of food relief, while the RSF has denied looting aid.
Military chief General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo both said in September that they were committed to facilitating the flow of aid.

Donor reticence
As hunger spreads, emergency response rooms have set up 419 kitchens that aim to serve over 1 million people daily in Khartoum state alone, said Abdallah Gamar, a state organizer. But volunteers have struggled to secure the $1,175,000 needed every month. In September, they received around $614,000, Gamar told Reuters.
In the beginning, most of their support came from the Sudanese diaspora, but the resources of these donors have been depleted, Gamar said.
Aid workers said many foreign donors hesitated to fund kitchens because the groups running them are not registered with the government and often use personal bank accounts.
“There’s a lot of risk aversion when it comes to supporting unregistered platforms,” said Mathilde Vu, the Norwegian Refugee Council’s advocacy manager for Sudan.
Her organization began supporting local responders in Sudan last year, she said. “Now we have seen that a lot of NGOs, UN agencies and donors are starting to realize that we cannot do any humanitarian response — we can’t save lives — without them.”
Some donors are now working through registered intermediaries to get funding to communal kitchens. The WFP, for example, began partnering with local aid groups in July to help some 200 kitchens provide hot meals to up to 175,000 people daily in greater Khartoum, spending more than $2 million to date, said spokesperson Leni Kinzli.
Volunteers welcomed the support but said it can take weeks for money to filter down to kitchens through intermediaries. Cumbersome reporting requirements add to the delays, they said.
“The kitchens work in a sporadic way — there’s no consistent funding,” said Mohamed Abdallah, spokesperson for an emergency response room south of Khartoum. He said his group sometimes has only enough money to provide meals once a week, including in neighborhoods at risk of famine.
Justin Brady, who heads the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Sudan, said donors need safeguards to ensure funds are used for their intended purpose but have taken steps to simplify the process.
Meanwhile, needs continue to grow.
The arrival of the rainy season over the summer brought flash floods and a heightened risk of deadly diseases such as cholera and malaria, stretching resources even thinner, volunteers said.
Sudan’s currency has fallen around 300 percent against the dollar on the parallel market during the war, and food prices have risen by almost as much, according to WFP surveys.
“In neighborhoods where we had one kitchen, we now need three more,” said Hind Altayif, spokesperson for volunteers in Sharq Al-Nil, a district adjacent to Bahri where she said several people were dying of hunger each month. “As the war goes on, we’ll see more people reaching rock bottom.”
In one Bahri neighborhood, people line up twice a day with bowls and buckets to collect ladles of gruel prepared over a fire in the courtyard of a volunteer’s home. Standing among them are teachers, traders and others cut off from livelihoods.
“We don’t have any food at home because we don’t have the money,” said a 50-year-old housewife, who like others interviewed requested anonymity for safety. “We rely on the community kitchen ... We don’t have an alternative.”


Israeli military prepares to relocate residents to southern Gaza, spokesperson says

Israeli military prepares to relocate residents to southern Gaza, spokesperson says
Updated 16 August 2025

Israeli military prepares to relocate residents to southern Gaza, spokesperson says

Israeli military prepares to relocate residents to southern Gaza, spokesperson says
  • UN and relief groups to assist with relocation logistics
  • Hamas demands independent state for disarmament

GAZA: The Israeli military will provide Gaza residents with tents and other equipment starting from Sunday ahead of relocating them from combat zones to “safe” ones in the south of the enclave, military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said on Saturday.

This comes days after Israel said it intended to launch a new offensive to seize control of northern Gaza City, the enclave’s largest urban center, in a plan that raised international alarm over the fate of the demolished strip, home to about 2.2 million people.

The equipment will be transferred via the Israeli crossing of Kerem Shalom by the United Nations and other international relief organizations after being thoroughly inspected by defense ministry personnel, Adraee added in a post on X.

Israel’s COGAT, the military agency that coordinates aid, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the preparations were part of the new plan.

Taking over the city of about one million Palestinians complicates ceasefire efforts to end the nearly two-year war, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu follows through with his plan to take on Hamas’ two remaining strongholds.

Netanyahu said Israel had no choice but to complete the job and defeat Hamas as the Palestinian militant group has refused to lay down its arms.

Hamas said it would not disarm unless an independent Palestinian state was established.

Israel already controls about 75 percent of Gaza.

The war began when Hamas attacked southern Israel in October 2023, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israeli authorities say 20 of the remaining 50 hostages in Gaza are alive.

Israel’s subsequent military assault has killed over 61,000 Palestinians, Gaza’s health ministry says.

It has also caused a hunger crisis, internally displaced Gaza’s entire population and prompted accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice and of war crimes at the International Criminal Court. Israel denies the accusations.


Paramilitary group in Sudan shells famine-stricken camp in Darfur, killing 31 people

Paramilitary group in Sudan shells famine-stricken camp in Darfur, killing 31 people
Updated 16 August 2025

Paramilitary group in Sudan shells famine-stricken camp in Darfur, killing 31 people

Paramilitary group in Sudan shells famine-stricken camp in Darfur, killing 31 people
  • Sudan’s civil war broke out in April 2023 over a power struggle between commanders of the military and the RSF

CAIRO: A paramilitary fighting against Sudan’s military shelled a famine-stricken displacement camp in the western region of Dafur Saturday, killing at least 31 people, including seven children and a pregnant woman, a medical group said, in a second attack on the camp in less than a week.

The Rapid Support Forces artillery shelling of the Abu Shouk camp outside El-Fasher, the provincial capital of North Darfur province, also wounded 13 others, the Sudan Doctors Network said in a statement.

The Resistance Committees in el-Fasher, a grassroots group tracking the war, said RSF launched an hours-long “extensive artillery shelling” on the camp early morning.

It said in a Facebook post that the attack also resulted in severe damage to private properties and the camp’s infrastructure.

The RSF didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The RSF attacked Abu Shouk last week and killed more than 40 people, as the paramilitaries have tried to seize el-Fasher, the military’s last stronghold in Darfur.

Abu-Shouk is one of two camps for displaced people outside El-Fasher. They have repeatedly been attacked by the RSF and their Janjwaeed allies, including a major offensive in April which killed hundreds of people and forced hundreds of thousands others to flee. Both camps Abu Shouk and Zamzam have been hit by famine.

Sudan’s civil war broke out in April 2023 over a power struggle between commanders of the military and the RSF. The fighting wrecked the Northeastern African country, forced about 14 million people out of their homes, and pushed some of its parts into famine.

Thousands of people were killed in the conflict and there have been atrocities, including mass killings and rape, particularly in Darfur. The International Criminal Court is investigating potential crimes and crimes against humanity in the conflict.


Jordanian business chief hails EU as key partner in supporting Jordan’s economy

Jordanian business chief hails EU as key partner in supporting Jordan’s economy
Updated 16 August 2025

Jordanian business chief hails EU as key partner in supporting Jordan’s economy

Jordanian business chief hails EU as key partner in supporting Jordan’s economy
  • Partnership a ‘living model of constructive cooperation,’ says Ali Murad
  • Financial aid, investments highlight Brussels’ support for Jordan’s economic goals

AMMAN: The EU remains one of Jordan’s most important economic partners, playing a vital role in supporting the country’s economy through financial assistance, grants, and investments, Jordanian European Business Association President Ali Murad said on Saturday.

Murad described the Jordan-EU partnership as a “living model of constructive cooperation” that has helped Jordan confront economic crises amid regional and international challenges, the Jordan News Agency reported.

He also praised King Abdullah II’s “great efforts” to strengthen cooperation, particularly in the economic sector.

The JEBA president said that the partnership has witnessed “remarkable development” since the signing of a strategic agreement earlier this year, reflecting the EU’s commitment to supporting Jordan’s economic goals.

On Wednesday, the Cabinet approved a financing agreement and memorandum of understanding covering €500 million ($585 million) in EU financial assistance, part of a €3 billion package agreed for 2025–2027.

The package, signed in the presence of King Abdullah in January, includes €640 million in grants, €1.4 billion in investments, and around €1 billion in macroeconomic support.

“Through this financial package, the EU demonstrates its commitment to strengthening the strategic partnership with Jordan and its appreciation for the Kingdom’s pivotal role in the region,” Murad said.

He added that the agreement was a “significant step” in advancing Jordan-EU ties, with positive impacts expected on the national economy and treasury as implementation begins.

According to official data, trade between Jordan and the EU reached JD1.129 billion ($1.6 billion) in the first four months of 2025, up from JD1.025 billion during the same period last year.

National exports to EU markets rose 14.4 percent to JD143 million, compared with JD125 million a year earlier.


Young Gaza woman flown to Italy for treatment, dies

Young Gaza woman flown to Italy for treatment, dies
Updated 16 August 2025

Young Gaza woman flown to Italy for treatment, dies

Young Gaza woman flown to Italy for treatment, dies
ROME: A young Palestinian woman with severe wasting who was flown from Gaza to Italy this week for treatment has died, the hospital said on Saturday.

The 20-year-old, named by Italian media as Marah Abu Zuhri, arrived in Pisa on an Italian government humanitarian flight overnight Wednesday-Thursday.

She had a “very complex clinical picture” and was “in a profound state of organic wasting,” the University Hospital of Pisa said in a statement.

On Friday, after undergoing tests and starting treatment, she had a sudden respiratory crisis and cardiac arrest, and died.

The hospital did not elaborate on her condition, but Italian news agencies reported that she was suffering from severe malnutrition.

Humanitarian groups, UN agencies and Palestinian militant group Hamas have warned of the risk of widespread famine in war-battered Gaza.

The young woman had come to Italy with her mother on one of three Italian air force flights that arrived this week with a total of 31 patients and their companions.

They all suffered from serious congenital diseases, wounds or amputations, the Italian foreign ministry said at the time.

So far more than 180 children and young people from Gaza have been brought to Italy since the war began between Israel and Hamas.

The head of the Tuscany region, Eugenio Giani, offered his condolences to the young woman’s family.

Jordan, UK discuss strengthening transport cooperation

Jordan, UK discuss strengthening transport cooperation
Updated 16 August 2025

Jordan, UK discuss strengthening transport cooperation

Jordan, UK discuss strengthening transport cooperation
  • Qatamin highlighted the importance of UK support in advancing public transport and logistics

AMMAN: Jordanian Minister of Transport Nidal Qatamin met on Saturday with British Charge d’Affaires Hazel Mowbray to discuss expanding cooperation between Jordan and the UK in the transport sector, the Jordan News Agency reported.

Qatamin highlighted the importance of UK support in advancing public transport and logistics, which he described as vital to the kingdom’s economic development.

Mowbray pledged British backing through the International Growth Centre (IGC), an economic research center based at the London School of Economics, in coordination with the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, to support priority projects in the sector.

Both sides agreed to continue technical and institutional cooperation to achieve Jordan’s transport development goals and further strengthen the bilateral partnership.