The Sudanese government has kicked out senior staff members from two humanitarian agencies that have been trying to care for the thousands of people suffering due to the ongoing civil war.

The Sudanese government ordered senior members of Oxfam and Save the Children to leave the country yesterday, accusing them of backing rebels in the war-torn region of Darfur.

The action against the two British-based aid agencies, which are helping hundreds of thousands of refugees, followed a report by Save the Children of a government air raid on one of its feeding centres, and critical press statements issued by Oxfam.

Sudan pledged three weeks ago to open up Darfur to relief workers but an upsurge of fighting between government troops and rebel fighters forced the suspension of emergency food supplies to Northern Darfur.

The air strike, reported by Save the Children, came after the government agreed to end military flights over Darfur. Its disclosure appears to have infuriated the Khartoum regime, which singled out Kate Halff, country director of Save the Children, and also Oxfam’s programme director for northern Sudan, whom the aid agency declined to name.