Soldiers killed in Darfur camp

2007-10-22 20:22

Khartoum - Three Sudanese soldiers were killed when government forces attacked a refugee camp in Darfur, the second assault reported on a shelter for displaced people in less than a week, the United Nations said on Monday.

The fighting, at the Hamidiya camp near the western town of Zalengei, was the latest in a series of clashes just days before planned peace talks between Sudan's government and rebel groups.

Sudanese troops surrounded the camp

France's secretary of state for human rights and foreign affairs, Rama Yade, speaking at the start of a two-day visit to Khartoum and Darfur, said on Monday security in Sudan's remote west was worsening.

The UN mission in Sudan said there had been reports of three killings after Sudanese troops surrounded the Hamidiya camp and started shooting into the settlement on Saturday.

A UN spokesperson said the troops moved in following reports that displaced people had killed a government intelligence officer inside the camp earlier the same day.

A few days earlier, residents in Kalma camp outside Nyala, the capital of south Darfur, reported a series of raids by government-backed militias. The African Union later confirmed that armed assailants had attacked the camp, killing several people.

International experts say 200 000 people have been killed in more than four years of fighting, raping and looting in Darfur and more than 2.5 million have been driven from their homes to seek refuge in camps such as Kalma and Hamidiya.

Khartoum says the figures have been exaggerated by the media and campaign groups.

'35 children still die every day'

France's Yade told reporters on Monday that she had delivered a letter from French President Nicolas Sarkozy to Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, setting out concerns about the worsening situation in Darfur.

"There is still immense suffering," she said. "We know from UNICEF that 35 children still die every day. We know that women are still raped. We strongly condemn those responsible for these serious crimes, which are crimes against humanity and war crimes."

Yade said the French government would keep up efforts to persuade defiant Darfur rebel leader Abdel Wahed Mohamed Ahmed el-Nur to leave Paris and attend peace talks in Libya.

- Reuters