UN: More attacks in Sudan
2004-10-16 13:58
United Nations - The United Nations said it is continuing to receive reports of attacks in Sudan's western Darfur region where tens of thousands of people have already been killed and nearly 1.5 million have been forced to flee their homes.
UN associate spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Friday that people who lived in the village of Uma Kasara in southern Darfur reported that their village was burned down by unidentified gunmen on October 2, forcing 650 families to leave the village and two adjacent villages.
There have also been reports of attacks and burnings of four other villages in south Darfur, he said.
Another indication of the unrest is the continuing arrival of people who have fled their homes in south Darfur at the already overcrowded Kalma camp close to the state capital of Nyala, Dujarric said. An estimated 60 000 internally displaced people are now in the camp.
Sought refuge
According to the United Nations, more than 1.45 million people have left their villages and sought refuge elsewhere in Darfur, and another 200 000 have crossed the border and are living as refugees in neighbouring Chad.
The United Nations and aid groups have called Darfur the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
The conflict began as a clash between African farmers and Arab nomads but has grown into a counterinsurgency in which pro-government Arab militia have raped, killed and burned the villages of their enemy.
Sudan's government is accused of using the militias to put down the 19-month rebellion in the region the size of France. But the government denies allegations that it supports the Arab militias, known as Janjaweed. - AP
- SAPA