French diplomacy condemned last Friday night “in the strongest possible way” the armed attack against a convoy of the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (ICRC) in the state of South Darfur, Sudan, which resulted in the loss of two lives its workers and three others were injured.

“France calls on all parties to the conflict to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law, which require them to protect humanitarian and health service personnel and guarantee full, safe and unhindered access,” said Christophe Lemoine, deputy representative of Que d’Orsay.

Two ICRC drivers were killed and three other ICRC workers were injured in an armed attack on them last Thursday in the state of South Darfur, in western Sudan, according to a press release published in Geneva by the humanitarian aid organization.

The group was “returning from Leyba”, where it had gone “to assess the humanitarian situation of communities affected by violence” in the region, when it became the target of gunmen, the text states.

Since last year, Sudan has turned into a theater of merciless war between two generals, who had launched a coup together in 2021 but have now turned their weapons against each other.

Since the outbreak of war on April 15, 2023, between the armed forces under General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the dreaded Rapid Support Force (RSF) under General Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, sexual violence, ethnically and racially motivated violence and scorched earth tactics are back in Darfur. The armed conflict has killed thousands of people, including aid workers, and turned more than 8.5 million others into refugees and internally displaced people, according to the UN.

The ICRC has been present in Sudan since 1978 and, since the outbreak of war, has notably distributed medical supplies to hospitals located in or near war zones, helps separated families maintain contact with their relatives, and strives to promote compliance with international humanitarian law.