Two relief workers killed by landmine in Darfur

Two relief workers employed by Save the Children (SC-UK) were killed on Sunday in the western Sudanese region of Darfur when their vehicle hit an anti-tank landmine. The two, one British and one Sudanese, were travelling in the Um Barro area of North Darfur State when their vehicle struck the landmine, SC-UK said. Mike Aaronson, director general of SC-UK, said in a statement: "No words are sufficient to describe the loss of two valued colleagues, whose work and efforts in North Darfur brought much relief to many children and their families caught up in this crisis". "The team was carrying out programme work in this area, which until three weeks ago had been virtually inaccessible to the outside world," he added. Their Sudanese driver was seriously injured. In a statement issued on Monday, the UN special envoy to Sudan, Jan Pronk, said: "The victims of the blast were humanitarians, whose presence in Darfur was motivated by the wish to assist people affected by the conflict. It is tragic that people who have come to Darfur to help the victims of the civil war become targets and victims themselves." He added: "This particular trip of the Save the Children vehicle had been fully notified to both the government of Sudan and the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), as per agreed notification procedures." He urged the Sudanese government and the SLM to safeguard the security of humanitarian workers, adding the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan had repeatedly condemned the use of landmines as weapons that kill civilians without discrimination. "The United Nations calls on the parties to the conflict in Darfur to immediately cease the use of such weapons," Pronk said. There are about 700 international humanitarian aid workers in conflict-torn Darfur, up from about 40 in March, as well as a few thousand Sudanese staff members. Sunday’s tragedy was the second mine incident affecting Save the Children personnel in Darfur this year. In February, a vehicle in a SC-UK humanitarian convoy was destroyed by a landmine. The driver was seriously injured and had to undergo amputation. The conflict in Darfur pits the Sudanese military and militias said to be allied with the government, against rebels fighting to end alleged marginalisation and discrimination of Darfur residents by the state. The militias, locally known as Janjawid, have been accused of committing atrocities against civilians. The fighting, which erupted early last year, has displaced about 1.45 million people and sent another 200,000 fleeing across the border into Chad. On Thursday, Annan set up a commission of inquiry to investigate and determine whether genocide has been committed in Darfur. He appointed an Italian judge to lead the probe. The five-member commission will also investigate reports of violations of international humanitarian law and human rights in Darfur.