WFP says it is resuming work in Sudan to help millions of people.| Photo: Reuters

The World Food Programme says it is resuming operations in Sudan with immediate effect.

The UN food agency had suspended its activities in the conflict-ridden country two weeks ago after three of its staff members were killed in the ongoing fighting.

But on Monday, WFP executive director Cindy McCain wrote on Twitter ''as the crisis in Sudan pushes millions into hunger, WFP is immediately lifting the temporary suspension put in place after the tragic deaths of our team members.''

Cindy McCain said the agency is ''rapidly resuming'' its operations in order to provide ''the life-saving assistance that many so desperately need right now.''

The WFP team members were killed at the beginning of the clashes between the Sudanese army and the paramilitar y Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Meanwhile, United Nations' top humanitarian official is heading to Sudan due to the "rapidly deteriorating humanitarian crisis" in the conflict-racked country, the UN chief said.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' announcement Sunday came shortly after rival Sudanese forces announced the extension of a truce they have largely violated, as warplanes roared overhead and fighting continued in the capital Khartoum.

The fighting pits the forces of army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against his ex-deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a heavily armed paramilitary group.

More than 500 people have been killed and tens of thousands of people have fled since battles erupted on April 15.

"The scale and speed of what is unfolding is unprecedented in Sudan. We are extremely concerned by the immediate as well as long-term impact on all people in Sudan, and the broader region," Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for Guterres, said in a statement.

He said the UN chief was "immediately" sending Martin Griffiths, his emergency relief coordinator, to the area "in light of the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian crisis in Sudan".

Efforts to broker a permanent ceasefire in Sudan have yielded little progress so far.

TRT Afrika and agencies