Rare food aid convoy enters Sudan from Chad

The World Food Programme has announced the arrival of a rare convoy of humanitarian aid into civil war-torn Sudan via a temporarily reopened border crossing with Chad.

"More than a dozen aid trucks - including some from the WFP and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) - have now crossed into Darfur from Chad via the Adre border crossing" in Sudan's west, UN chief Antonio Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric told journalists on Wednesday.

The WFP trucks were carrying sorghum, legumes, oil and rice for around 13,000 people threatened with famine in the Kereinik region in western Darfur, Dujarric said.

Meanwhile the IOM brought "essential relief items" for around 12,000 people, the spokesman added.

Fighting broke out in April last year between Sudan's army, led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by his former deputy Mohammed Hamdan Daglo.

More than 25 million people have been pitched into acute hunger by the conflict, according to UN figures - over half of Sudan's total population.

"The re-opening of the Adre crossing is critical for the effort to prevent famine from spreading across Sudan, and it must now stay in use," WFP executive director Cindy McCain said in a statement Wednesday.

"I want to acknowledge all parties for taking this vital step to help WFP get lifesaving aid to millions of people in desperate need," she added.

McCain said further border crossings should be reopened and humanitarian corridors created to enable more aid to be brought in, insisting that "this is the only way to avoid widespread starvation".

Sudan's government has said that the Adre crossing will remain open for the three coming months.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) also hailed Thursday the opening of the border crossing as a "positive first step", but also said it should be for longer.

"The three months coincide with the rainy season, which naturally complicates access because of heavy rains and flash floods," the aid group said in a statement.