A huge fire broke out in one of the most important food factories in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, due to the ongoing confrontations between the army and the Rapid Support Forces, according to local media.
The effects of the destruction of the "Samil Food" factory, which was looted and burned as a result of the current events in #Sudan .
The factory is a Sudanese-French partnership. It covers the needs of the country and neighboring countries for baby food, and contributes to the supplies of UNICEF and the United Nations World Food Program. pic.twitter.com/LhTMFGyYUD— Sudan News (@Sudan_tweet) May 12, 2023
And the Saleh Abdul Rahman Yaqoub Group of Companies announced yesterday, Friday, the burning of its "Samil Foods" factory, in partnership with the French "Nutriset" group, which covers the needs of Sudan and the surrounding areas.
The group published on its Facebook page pictures that showed the burning of the factory and the severe damage it suffered, and commented on it by saying, "My pain is upon you, my country, a great loss for the children of Sudan."
Samil manufactures nutritious peanut paste to treat undernourishment in children, and its production capacity increased in 9 years from 1,200 to 10,000 tons, according to the French embassy in Khartoum.
The company said in a publication that was circulated on digital platforms that the factory is the only one of its kind in Sudan, and denounced what it was exposed to, saying, "It was covering the needs of UNICEF and the World Food Program for food for children suffering from malnutrition and the risk of starvation."
In turn, the French partner of the factory expressed his dismay, and said, "The factory was completely destroyed during the fighting in Khartoum," while declaring his solidarity with the factory's management and staff in what he described as "difficult" circumstances.
The Nutriset group confirmed on its Facebook page that hundreds of thousands of Sudanese are reeling from a humanitarian catastrophe.
"Their situation is getting worse day by day in the face of worrisome food insecurity from before the conflict even began," she added.
And last Wednesday, the United Nations World Food Program expected that between 2 and 2.5 million additional people in Sudan would go hungry in the coming months as a result of the ongoing violence in the country.
In a report , the program warned of record levels of severe food insecurity in Sudan, reaching more than 19 million people, or two-fifths of the population.
Activists denounced the burning of "Samil Foods", whose name was published on the Facebook and Twitter platforms, amid fears of its repercussions on the food security situation in the country, which may threaten the lives of millions of children due to suffering from malnutrition.
In addition, inside this edifice, which I have had the honor to work with since 2017, there is a SAFE laboratory, which is one of the only laboratories in Sudan to obtain international accreditation ISO IEC 17025: 2017 in the field of food analysis, the effort that was made to obtain this accreditation certificate at the request of WFP and UNICEF https://t.co/NTnfilZJ6O
– MUHAMMED IDRIS ABDALLA (@abdalla_idris) May 13, 2023
If a baby food factory is a military target for one of the warring parties, then this whole war is a crime. #Sudan https://t.co/RAQn3wfRyk
– Fadi Al-Qadi ˢᵉˡᶠ⁻ᵛᵉʳⁱᶠⁱᵉᵈ (@fqadi) May 12, 2023
This war is destroying crops and tillage.. and little by little it is burning green and the entire land..
,, A picture of the burning of the Samil Food Factory, which is a well-known factory, especially for productive products. #You must stand #No_to_war #Quick_support_militias https://t.co/xQ3HZ7GU0V– Md Sayed (@MdSayed81965438) May 12, 2023
Unfortunately, the only factory I have seen meets all the conditions of industrial engineering, safety and health.. May God compensate them with goodness, God willing https://t.co/9piq4z9XmF
– Mujtaba Salah (@Tbasalah) May 13, 2023
It is reported that up to 19 million people in Sudan – or 41% of the population – may have difficulty finding a meal a day, compared to 15 million people last year.
Nearly 4 million children and pregnant and lactating women suffered from acute malnutrition before the start of the clashes, according to Eddie Rowe, Country Director of the World Food Program in Sudan.
Source : Al Jazeera + Sanad Agency + social media sites
