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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
SUDAN: More violence reported in Darfur region
NAIROBI, 3 Dec 2004 (IRIN) - Clashes between government troops, armed militias and suspected rebels were reported on Thursday in the western Sudanese state of South Darfur, two days after attacks were reported in neighbouring North Darfur state, relief workers in the region told IRIN.
The African Union (AU) warned that it might resort to force to protect its peacekeepers deployed in Darfur. AU spokesman Assane Ba told IRIN on Thursday that the current 830-strong peacekeeping force in the region would "not give in to intimidation".
The warning came after a Chadian AU ceasefire monitor was shot in the shoulder on Wednesday when their convoy came under attack in South Darfur.
"This is the first time we have come under attack since we arrived in Darfur," Ba said in Addis Ababa. "This is unacceptable. It comes as we are increasing our presence there so we think this may be to intimidate us, but this will not stop us."
"If they come under fire, then they will shoot back. They have to protect their lives - and they will," he added.
The latest fighting erupted in a government stronghold southwest of Nyala in South Darfur following shooting at a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Kalma, UN News reported. There were also reports of tensions in West Darfur around north El-Geneina following an ambush of policemen on Wednesday.
The latest reports of fighting, relief workers said, had come only a day after aid workers were reported to have started returning to Tawillah, the base of the North Darfur region, where rebels launched an attack last week in violation of ceasefire accords.
On Tuesday, armed men had attacked a village in the western Sudanese state of North Darfur forcing about 2,000 IDPs to flee from their homes, the medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported.
"We are not sure who was behind the attack," Wyger Wentholt, MSF regional information officer told IRIN in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. "What our people on the ground were told by the IDPs was that the attackers were suspected to be a pro-government militia."
The shooting of the AU peacekeeper occurred as a team of ceasefire monitors were travelling to the village of Adwah in north Nyala, to investigate an alleged bombing by the government in breach of a ceasefire agreement with rebels.
The AU brokered a peace deal agreement between rebels and the government to end the conflict, signed on 9 November in Abuja, Nigeria. However, there have been several breaches, according to the AU, who have called on both sides to respect the ceasefire agreement.
Ba said a full 3,320-strong peacekeeping mission, which would cost US $220 million a year, would be in place by early January 2005. A Senegalese and Nigerian contingent is due to fly into the region in the next two weeks, he added.
Sudanese troops and rebels of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) started clashing just days after the UN Security Council met in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, on 18 and 19 November. The Council adopted a resolution demanding that the government, rebel forces and other armed groups in Darfur cease all violence.
On 22 November, Save the Children-UK flew its staff out of Tawillah as a result of fighting in which the SLA took control of the town. The rebels had previously attacked the West Darfur town of El-Geraida, forced the police to leave and raised their flag. Some 50-60 SLA fighters also attacked a police station near Kalma in South Darfur, killing a policeman.
On Monday, the UN said the clashes had subsided and several thousand IDPs, who had fled their camps, had returned. A team of UN and AU officials visited Tawillah, where the most intense clashes occurred after government troops took back the town, to assess the situation and try to locate IDPs who had fled their camps.
Fighting in Darfur started in 2003 when indigenous communities took up arms, accusing Khartoum of decades of neglect and oppression. In its efforts to pacify the region, President Omar El-Bashir's government is widely believed to have backed the Janjawid, an Arab militia accused of committing atrocities against unarmed civilians. About 1.45 million people have been displaced, while another 200,000 are living as refugees in neighbouring Chad.
[ENDS]
This material comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2004
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