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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
SUDAN: Armed attacks reported in Darfur despite ceasefire
NAIROBI, 15 September 2003 (IRIN) - The Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) rebel group has accused the government of Sudan and allied militia of repeatedly attacking civilians in Darfur, northern Sudan, since the signing of a ceasefire agreement in neighbouring Chad on 3 September. However, the Sudanese government has denied the claim.
"Since the ceasefire until yesterday, there have been almost continuous attacks," Minni Minawi Arkou, Secretary-General of the SLA, told IRIN. "Sometimes they attack with aircraft, sometimes with tanks, sometimes with militia, sometimes they come together," he said.
On Friday two helicopter gunships attacked Khashaba, about 30km north of Kutum, northern Darfur, he said. As people fled from fields to escape the gunshots, militiamen arrived to steal their cattle. About 75 people were killed in the incident, while over 40 had gone "missing" since the attacks, he said. On Saturday a further 17 civilians were killed by militiamen in Abu Leiha, about 100 km west of Kutum, said Minnawi.
However, an information advisor in the Sudanese embassy in London, Abdulla el-Sadig, denied the allegations, saying "the ceasefire signed in the Darfur area is still holding". He said "elements" who had been affiliated with the SLA, and had not been in favour of the ceasefire deal, were "spreading allegations" about attacks.
"There are no independent sources to confirm what they [the rebels] are saying," he said. "We have no confirmation ... The government is denying all these claims."
While there are no independent observers in Darfur to monitor specific allegations regarding attacks on civilians, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) reported last week that almost 70,000 people had fled from Darfur into neighbouring Chad and that hundreds more were still "streaming" in "to escape aerial attacks".
An inter-agency assessment mission last week to border areas in Chad witnessed the arrival of over 800 new refugees in the border town of Agan, about 180 km from Abeche, eastern Chad. The newly arriving refugees told the team they had fled from government forces bombing their villages on Wednesday last week, UNHCR reported.
Refugees fleeing from Darfur are currently scattered in nearly 20 sites along Chad's eastern border with Sudan, but humanitarian workers are unable to reach some of them. About 5,000 refugees believed to be in the town of Tissi were inaccessible due to poor road conditions, especially during the rainy season, and insecurity in Chad, UNHCR added.
Many of the refugees are women and children, who have no access to shelter or clean drinking water.
The SLA launched its rebellion in March to fight against "marginalisation, racial discrimination, and exploitation" in Darfur, home to about one fifth of Sudan's population of 30 million people.
Since then, humanitarian sources have reported that thousands of civilians - who appear to be targeted along ethnic lines - are displaced within Darfur, while hundreds have been killed in clashes between the SLA, government-affiliated militia groups, government troops or by aerial bombings. The displaced come mainly from the Fur, Zaghawa, Masalit and Tungur ethnic groups.
Theme(s): (IRIN) Conflict, (IRIN) Governance, (IRIN) Human Rights
[ENDS]
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