UN calls for safe passage after Sudan aid looted

STORY: The U.N.'s aid chief is calling on Sudan's warring factions to guarantee the safe passage of humanitarian supplies.

Martin Griffiths said six World Food Programme aid trucks had been looted en route to Darfur, despite assurances of safety and security.

“Fairly, it's not as if we're asking for the moon. We're asking for the movement of humanitarian supplies, of people. We do this in every other country, even without ceasefires. It's a traditional humanitarian enterprise to go where others don't."

Griffiths was speaking from Port Sudan where many have fled amid fighting between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

The conflict has created a humanitarian crisis with around 100,000 people forced to flee to neighboring countries, according to the U.N.

Aid deliveries have been held up in a country where around one-third of people were already relying on humanitarian assistance.

"We will need to have agreement at the highest level and very publicly and we will need to deliver those commitments into local arrangements that can be depended on.”

Sudan's warring factions have agreed to a new seven-day ceasefire starting on Thursday (May 4).

But on Wednesday (May 3), airstrikes could again be heard in the capital Khartoum - weakening the chances of a lasting truce.