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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Wednesday 2 November 2005

SUDAN: Swiss de-mining company suspends operations in the south

NAIROBI, 2 Nov 2005 (IRIN) - The Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD) has suspended its operations in areas of southern Sudan after suspected rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) killed two de-miners in an attack on Monday.

"A FSD mine clearance team working in support of the United Nations World Food Programme's road reconstruction and rehabilitation programme was ambushed in south Sudan," FSD announced in a statement.

An Iraqi international team supervisor and a Sudanese colleague were killed, the statement added, and two government soldiers who had accompanied the convoy were injured.

"As a result of this incident FSD will close all operations on the Juba - Jebelin and Nimule - Jebelin roads," FSD noted.

The FSD convoy of three vehicles that was ambushed was travelling from Jebelin minefield to Nasito Campsite, about 30 km south of Juba. "At the current time, we have no information as to who the assailants were or why they targeted the FSD convoy," the statement observed.

On Tuesday, the UN Mission in Sudan said that suspected LRA rebels had staged the ambush. In the attack, the agency reported, three armed men stopped the lead truck in a three-vehicle convoy, forced the victims from the truck, and killed them.

In recent weeks, relief organisations in southern Sudan have complained of an upsurge in LRA violence. Last week, two aid workers were killed in attacks in northern Uganda, prompting several NGOs to suspend work in the region.

Since the start of the LRA rebellion against the Ugandan government 20 years ago, tens of thousands of people have been killed and close to 1.5 million driven out of their homes in northern Uganda.

LRA leader Joseph Kony, who is believed to be hiding in southern Sudan, and his forces have been accused by human rights groups of massive abuses, including the abduction of at least 20,000 children who are used as porters, fighters and sex slaves by LRA commanders.

The FSD is currently the largest organisation conducting humanitarian mine action in Sudan. The programme in the south of Sudan has focused on clearing and opening three primary access routes from the south into Juba - a distance of more than 600 km.

Since the start of 2005, the FSD has cleared over 2.5 million square metres of land and destroyed more than 2,774 landmines and other explosive items.

[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 2005