Reports Of Violence Still Coming Out Of Dafur - UN

Reports Of Violence Still Coming Out Of Sudan's Darfur Region – UN

Reports of violence continue to come out of Sudan's western Darfur region and several routes in South Darfur state are currently closed for United Nations movement because of ongoing insecurity, the UN Advance Mission in Sudan (UNAMIS) said today.

The reported attacks are the latest in Darfur which the UN has called the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Tens of thousands of people have been killed and at least 1.8 million others forced from their homes since rebels took up arms against the Government in early 2003, partly in protest at the distribution of economic resources.

In South Darfur on 27 and 28 January, armed tribesmen reportedly attacked internally displaced persons (IDPs) gathering at Djedja, killing six and displacing over 4,000 more. Only three routes are clear for UN movement, UNAMIS said.

In West Darfur, the situation appears to have calmed down since heavy fighting north of Sirba on 20 January, but the area remains tense.

In North Darfur on 26 and 27 January, unidentified persons burnt several huts, including one belonging to a local non-governmental organization (NGO). On 28 January, a group of IDPs in Abu Shouk camp, who claimed not to have received ration cards and not to have received food since their arrival, looted food items, leading to a riot and halting food distribution.

Humanitarian agencies are planning to meet to discuss and identify alternative sites to relocate some 25,000 IDPs who have arrived in Abu Shouk camp over the past two months due to insecurity.

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