Attacks against IDPs continuing in Darfur - UN

The United Nations said on Monday it had continued to receive reports of attacks against internally displaced persons (IDPs) and harassment of relief workers in the western Sudanese region of Darfur. "The situation has remained extremely tense over the past days," Radia Achouri, spokesperson for the UN Advance Mission in Sudan, told IRIN. According to Achouri, relief workers had been harassed in separate incidents in North Darfur State either by suspected government soldiers and Janjawid militias, or by rebel fighters from the Sudanese Liberation Army. "In all cases, the humanitarian teams were stopped for about 20 minutes, surrounded, and intimidated by gunshots in the air," Achouri said. In a further incident on 14 October, Achouri added, SLA rebels hijacked two vehicles of an international aid organization in South Darfur State. The cars were recovered on Sunday. Attacks against IDPs in South Darfur State also seemed to be on the increase. Achouri said she had received a report about an attack on Tasha in South Darfur that took place on 5 October. Two people were reportedly killed and nine wounded by unidentified armed men. On Friday, UN News had reported an attack against the village of Uma Kasara which took place on 2 October. Three policemen were reportedly killed, while 650 families had to flee as unidentified gunmen burnt their village. It said the IDPs had continued to arrive in Kalma, an overcrowded refugee camp close to the South Darfur state capital of Nyala, which already holds an estimated 60,000 people who fled their homes earlier. The World Health Organization's health crisis group recently put at about 70,000 the estimated number of people to have died in Darfur since March, mainly as a result of disease and malnutrition. The number was said not to include deaths from violence. The Sudanese government has questioned the accuracy of this number. An Amnesty International (AI) delegation that visited Darfur between 13 and 21 September had also reported new displacements in northern Darfur. The AI team said fighting had been reported between armed opposition groups and government armed forces supported by militias, in southeastern areas of South Darfur. Until now, this area had largely remained untouched by the conflict. Some of the fighting in South Darfur could be the result of a conflict between communities, AI said in a report released on Wednesday. The conflict in Darfur between the Sudanese military supported by Janjawid militias, and rebels fighting to end alleged marginalisation and discrimination of the region, has displaced about 1.45 million people and sent another 200,000 fleeing across the border into Chad. The UN has called the crisis in Darfur one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.