Sudan war: RSF rejects proposed humanitarian aid route to Darfur

Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) who are fighting the country's armed forces have rejected an agreement between the nation's military government and UN agencies to deliver humanitarian aid into the war-torn Darfur region.

This comes after the Governor of the region announced a new route to deliver humanitarian aid to the western territory.

According to a local outlet, the Sudan Tribune, the governor, in agreement with UN agencies, planned to use a route starting from Port Sudan and passing through Al-Dabba in northern Sudan, an area controlled by the armed forces and its allies.

The Rapid Support Forces control most of Darfour, a region about the size of mainland France.

The paramilitary group claimed to have evidence of attempts by the armed forces to smuggle weapons disguised as humanitarian aid.

The war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary RSF has left 18 million people – more than a third of the population – facing acute food insecurity.

Most of them are in conflict hotspots in the Darfur and Kordofan regions and in Khartoum and Al Jazirah states (eastern Sudan).

Last month, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said it has only been able to deliver vital aid to 10% of those in need in areas embroiled in the conflict, like Darfur.