Three of the 16 trucks in the convoy -- which was carrying life-saving food assistance for vulnerable communities in Alsayah village -- were damaged and caught fire, said Gift Watanasathorn, adding that all members of the convoy were "safe and accounted for".

The spokesperson did not specify who was behind the assault, which took place in an area controlled by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has been at war with the regular army since April 2023.

Mellit, about 65 kilometres northeast of North Darfur's besieged capital of El-Fasher, has been under paramilitary control since April 2024.

El-Fasher remains the last major stronghold under army control in the western Darfur region, and has been under paramilitary siege for over a year.

In a statement, the RSF blamed the Sudanese army for carrying out the attack by air, calling it a "treacherous act of aggression".

There was no immediate comment from the army.

The two warring sides have both been accused of using starvation as a weapon of war and looting or obstructing aid.

In June, five aid workers were killed in a similar attack on a convoy organised by the World Food Programme and UNICEF headed for El-Fasher.

Paramilitary attacks in North Darfur have intensified in recent months as the RSF seeks to consolidate its hold on all of Darfur after losing Sudan's capital Khartoum in March.

The wider war -- now in its third year -- has plunged Sudan into one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, with more than a million people on the brink of starvation in North Darfur alone.

Famine has been declared in three displacement camps around El-Fasher, and the UN had warned it would spread to the city itself by last May, though a lack of data has prevented an official declaration.

The fighting has killed tens of thousands, displaced millions and created a dire hunger crisis.