Military

DATE=1/26/05

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=SUDAN/DARFUR (L-ONLY)

NUMBER=2-322025

BYLINE=CATHY MAJTENYI

DATELINE=NAIROBI

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

HEADLINE: More than 100 Dead In Darfur Fighting

INTRO: The United Nations says fresh fighting in the Darfur region of western Sudan killed at least 100 people and displaced more than nine-thousand. Cathy Majtenyi has details from Nairobi.

TEXT: The spokesman for the U.N. Advanced Mission in Sudan, George Somerwill, says the Darfur village of Hamada was hit particularly hard by violence last week.

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"It has been confirmed that the village of Hamada was nearly totally destroyed and that up to 105 civilians may have been killed, with the majority of victims being women and children. Several U.N. and NGO (non-government organization) relief agencies are responding to the needs of the survivors.

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Mr. Somerwill says a U.N. assessment team was sent to Hamada and two other villages on January 22 to check out the situation. He says more than nine-thousand people had fled fighting in those areas.

He could not say who was responsible for the fighting and why it took place, and wouldn't confirm reports that the village was bombed from the air.

He says the African Union is investigating the situation.

Violence in Darfur continues despite repeated calls by the United Nations, human rights groups and others for the government and rebels to end the violence.

The Adventist Development and Relief Agency said Tuesday that three of its Sudanese workers had been kidnapped in Darfur last month.

The Darfur conflict, which broke out in early 2003, has claimed tens of thousands of lives and has displaced some one-point-five million more. (SIGNED)

NEB/CM/RAE/MAR