AU condemns Darfur attacks, demands disarmament of militias

The African Union (AU) has strongly condemned the recent escalation of attacks by rebels and Arab Janjawid militia in the western Sudanese Darfur region and has demanded that those perpetrating the violence be disarmed immediately. "The situation, especially in the past couple of weeks, is a continuing deterioration of security, mostly provoked by SLA [the rebel Sudan Liberation Army] elements," said Baba Gana Kingibe, head of the Africa Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS), at a news conference in Khartoum on Thursday. The Sudanese government, he said, must "take immediate, vigorous and credible" steps to disarm the militia. "The militia still continue to burn, kill and rape on an ever-increasing scale," he added. Kingibe noted, however, that Sudanese government troops had showed restraint, even in situations where they were clearly provoked, citing recent attacks by the SLA in Shearia on 16 January and Golo on 23 January. Both attacks in the mountainous Jebel Marra region in central Darfur resulted in high casualties and further displacement of people, he said, and prompted reprisal attacks by the Janjawid militia. "These reprisal attacks, in fact, took further toll of human life, most of whom were innocent, unarmed villagers," he added. Attacks and harassment of AMIS personnel and humanitarian workers escalated as well. Citing an attack against Senegalese peacekeepers on 26 January between the towns of Kulbus and Tine in West Darfur, Kingibe said militias killed one soldier, wounded 10 and took away equipment. "These violations and breaches, whether by the SLA or the Arab militias or indeed by the government forces, should not be tolerated anymore as they further undermine what is in any case a tenuous ceasefire," Kingibe said. "They also derail ongoing peace talks in Abuja, Nigeria, into which so much energy and resources have been put by the AU and the international community," he added. Kingibe appealed to Sudan's warring parties to cease hostilities amongst themselves and against AMIS forces, humanitarian workers and innocent civilians, including internally displaced persons. On Wednesday, humanitarian workers said an estimated 70,000 people had been displaced by the attacks in South Darfur. These included 50,000 in camps for internally displaced people in Mershing and more than 15,000 in nearby Shearia town.