Darfur rebels warn off troops
2008-02-10 23:06
El-Fasher - Darfur rebels threatened on Sunday to prevent a joint UN-African Union peace force enter areas of West Darfur attacked by the Sudanese government in one of their biggest offensives of recent months.
Rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) leader Khalil
Ibrahim warned the new mission against moving into the burnt
towns, delaying an investigation by the peacekeepers.
"We are warning the hybrid troops forces that they should not enter these areas. We are coming back," said Ibrahim on Sunday.
The Unamid force, which took charge of peacekeeping in
Sudan's west on December 31, has already come under fire by
government troops in the volatile area north of west Darfur
state capital el-Geneina, an area which has seen the fiercest
battles in recent months.
"We will not accept them coming. We will attack anybody who comes into our areas," he added.
A tribal leader from the area, Ibrahim el-Nur, said
on Sunday he had names of 44 people killed in Sirba town alone. He was still waiting for inital figures from Abu Surouj.
Witnesses said they saw nine people killed in Suleia. All three towns are in West Darfur near the border with Chad.
High death toll expected
Residents say the total death toll could be as high as 200, but they could not yet reach all the bodies. About 200 000 people were forced to flee their homes as a result of the attacks.
Sudan has banned international aid workers from the area in
the past few months so reports are difficult to verify.
Ashr said the population from the entire area had been
forced from their homes.
"They have no water. Their humanitarian situation is so bad and we are appealing to the international community to help them," he said.
The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said about 12 000 Darfuri
refugees had crossed into eastern Chad after the attacks.
"It's mainly men so far, but they told us that more refugees were on their way, mostly women and children," said UNHCR spokesperson Helene Caux.
She said they planned to move them to refugee camps further inside Chad, already housing about 240 000 Darfuri.