More violence reported in Darfur

Armed horsemen and the Sudanese army killed at least 67 people, abducted 16 schoolgirls and raped others in front of their families during an attack in Northern Darfur, according to the UN. Residents of the town of Tawilah described a well-organised attack by "horsemen and military" on 27 February, the latest report of the UN Darfur Task Force issued on Thursday said. The government of Sudan has said 67 were killed, while locals describe seeing up to 80 bodies as they fled from the scene. By the time UN officials arrived in Tawilah on 3 March, only about 100 people had remained there, the report said. Others are believed to be hiding in a local riverbed and surrounding areas. Around 5,500 who fled to Al-Fashir, the capital of Northern Darfur State, are now registered and encamped close to the airport. Humanitarian workers were told that a number of children had died from dehydration on the way from Tawilah to Al-Fashir, the report added. There are also unverified reports that attacks by the army and the Janjawid attacks are on the increase in Southern Darfur, with internally displaced persons (IDPs) fearing for their lives, and women and girls being "branded" on their hands after being raped, the report added. On 2 March, 15 people were reportedly killed and 30 injured in an area about 15 km from Nyala, the capital of Southern Darfur State. An inter-agency assessment team was told that between 2,000 and 3,000 Janjawid were camped outside the town of Dulayj, where people from 55 surrounding villages had gathered after 30 nearby villages were attacked and burned to the ground. "IDPs in some areas continue to assert that they are not prepared to receive UN humanitarian assistance due to fear of subsequent looting by militia," the UN report said. The humanitarian community has repeatedly urged the Sudanese government to halt the militia and military attacks and protect its own people, which it has so far failed to do. The Arab militias, who are armed by the government, appear to have been given a carte blanche to systematically loot, rape, kill and grab land from the Fur, Zaghawah and Masalit ethnic groups, observers note, action amounting to what many are calling ethnic cleansing.