Clashes force suspension of South Darfur relief operations

The UN has suspended its relief operations in parts of the Sudanese state of South Darfur due to fighting between government and rebel forces, and a reported build-up of armed groups in the area, a spokesperson said. Radia Achouri, spokesperson for the UN Advance Mission in Sudan (UNAMIS), told IRIN on Thursday that fighting between government troops and the rebel Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) had continued in areas east and southeast of Nyala town. "The security situation is particularly tense around the town of Muhujariya and two international NGOs have relocated staff from Muhujariya to Sheriya as a result," Achouri said. Fighting, UNAMIS reported, had also occurred in the South Darfur villages of Bashom, Eida, Ishma, Um Zehefa, Reil and surrounding areas on Monday and Tuesday. The clashes intensified days after two relief workers employed by the NGO, Save the Children (SC-UK), were killed. A helicopter patrol of the African Union ceasefire monitoring operation also reported that two villages - Um Zehefa and Konkoro - seemed to have been abandoned and burned to the ground. "All UN operations have been suspended along the main road between Mershing and Duma [where the SC-UK aid workers were killed], the road between Nyala and Kass camp, and between Nyala and Zalingei," Achouri told IRIN. UNAMIS, however, reported that the security situation in North Darfur had improved slightly, although it had received unconfirmed reports of fighting on Tuesday between government forces and the SLA, northeast of Al Fasher. "The situation remains tense," Achouri noted. The latest confirmed fighting in the area occurred in Thabit last week and reportedly resulted in four civilian fatalities and 20 injuries, according to UN officials who had assessed the situation on the ground. The officials said about 16,000 displaced people had already fled to Thabit, following the 22 November attacks on the town of Tawillah. They had now scattered in the surrounding areas after the recent attacks. The war in Darfur pits the Sudanese government troops and militias, allegedly allied to the government, against rebels fighting to end what they have called marginalisation and discrimination of the region's inhabitants by the state. The conflict has displaced an estimated 1.45-million people and sent another 200,000 fleeing across the border into Chad. The UN has described the Darfur problem as one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.