The United Nations said 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 Organizations 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.
Kilde: FN-bureauet IRINnews
