Sudanese airforce bombs Darfur

2005-01-27 10:53

Cairo - The Sudanese air force bombed villagers in South Darfur, the African Union reported. An international aid organisation said casualties were inflicted.

"It is a major ceasefire violation," the senior AU political officer for Sudan, Jean Baptiste Natama, said of the bombardment near Shangil Tobaya, 65km south of El Fasher.

Fighting in nearby districts of South Darfur last week caused more than 9 000 people to flee their homes, a United Nations spokesperson said on Wednesday.

"It has been confirmed that Hamada village was nearly totally destroyed and that up to 105 civilians may have been killed, with the majority of victims being women and children," spokesperson George Somerwill told reporters at the UN offices in Khartoum. He did not say whether rebel or pro-government forces were responsible.

State usually denies

Darfur rebels have often accused the Sudanese government of using its air force against civilians, and the state has usually denied such charges. It is rare that aerial bombardments are confirmed by the African Union, which has about 1 400 ceasefire monitors and protection troops in the western Sudan region.

Sudanese government officials could not be reached for comment late on Wednesday.

An air force Antonov dropped bombs outside the town of Shangil Tobaya at about 15:00, the Khartoum-based official of an NGO said in a phone interview.

Field workers of the same NGO in Shangil Tobaya saw the bombs exploding on the ground and saw the Antonov circling overhead, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Natama said he intended to report the bombardment to the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa as well as the African Union meeting of foreign ministers, which is due to convene Thursday and Friday in Abuja, Nigeria.

The NGO official said his field workers reported about 25 people took refuge in Shangil Tobaya before and after the bombardment as they were fleeing fighting outside the town. Some of them were "war wounded," the official said. He did not have figures for the casualties.

The official said local people reported that Sudan Liberation Army rebels have been fighting pro-government Janjaweed militia and regular Sudanese troops in the area around Shangil Tobaya for two weeks.

The parties to the conflict signed a ceasefire in April 2004 and a similar commitment in November, but the agreement has been broken many times.

The Darfur conflict, which the United Nations describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis, began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Army and allied Justice and Equality Movement took up arms against what they saw as years of state neglect and discrimination against Sudanese of African origin.

The government responded with a counter-insurgency campaign

- AP