Smoke rises above buildings in Khartoum, Sudan, on Saturday. Gunfire and explosions were reported in Khartoum after a power struggle erupted between the army led by Army Chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. Photo by Mohnd Awad/EPA-EFE
April 16 (UPI) -- The United Nations' World Food Program will suspend its operations in Sudan after three staff members were killed in the country's Darfur region after an apparent coup attempt caused heavy fighting to break out across the nation.
Cindy McCain, the executive director of the WFP, said in a statement that the U.N. workers were killed Saturday because of violence in Kabkabiya in North Darfur "while carrying out their life-saving duties on the front lines of the global hunger crisis."
Two other WFP employees were injured in the same incident, McCain said.
"Any loss of life in humanitarian service is unacceptable and I demand immediate steps to guarantee the safety of those who remain," McCain said.
"Aid workers are neutral and should never be a target. Threats to our teams make it impossible to operate safely and effectively in the country and carry out WFP's critical work."
McCain added that a United Nations aircraft for humanitarian aid was also "significantly damaged" by gunfire at the Khartoum International Airport.
Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the president of Egypt, said in a statement that he received a call from South Sudan's President Salva Kiir Mayardit to discuss the developments in Sudan. Egypt and South Sudan border Sudan to the north and south respectively.
El-Sisi and Keer released a joint statement Sunday calling for an "immediate ceasefire" in Sudan as Ahmed Fahmy, the spokesman for El-Sisi, called for all parties in the new conflict to "calm down."
The African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development have convened emergency meetings to address the situation in Sudan.
"Today, with the situation going dangerously out of control and parties resorting to armed violence as a means of resolving political differences, the chairperson of the AUC launches a fervent appeal to all parties, the armed forces and the rapid intervention forces, in particular, to immediately stop the destruction of the country," the African Union statement reads.
Meanwhile, the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors said in a statement that an eye doctor was shot dead Sunday and offered condolences to her husband.
