Sudan: UN Says Banditry, Looting Continues In Darfur
Jun 21 2005
Looting and banditry, including attacks by armed groups, continued to be reported in the troubled Darfur region of
Sudan, the United Nations said today.
In an update on the situation in wider Sudan and the Darfur region, the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) listed a number of
incidents including a reported attack in eastern Sudan that was repelled by the Sudanese army. UN commercially rented trucks carrying food were in the area during the incident.
Due to the continued violence, UNMIS said that non-governmental organizations still continued to face difficulties in certain areas.
Earlier this month mission chief Jan Pronk called for an immediate end to violence in Darfur and expressed his concern
that rebel factions were fighting in the war-torn region even as the African Union (AU) tried to keep upcoming peace
negotiations on track.
Fighting in Darfur flared in early 2003 after rebels took up arms, partly in protest over the distribution of resources.
Militias such as the Janjaweed joined in the battle against them, terrorizing the population. The UN says some 180,000
people have died as a result of the conflict, while another 1.8 million have been forced from their homes, including
about 200,000 who fled across the border to neighbouring Chad.
ENDS