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Sudan: Aid workers 'in danger'
01/09/2006 13:24 - (SA)
Khartoum - The United Nations on Thursday deplored the ever-increasing danger facing aid workers in Darfur after the recent death of a relief worker in the western Sudanese region.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) announced on Wednesday that a Sudanese staff member was abducted and killed after distributing food in North Darfur in mid-August.
The UN said the death "brings the number of aid workers killed in the region this year to twelve, almost all in the last two months".
UN humanitarian coordinator in Sudan Manuel Da Silva said: "We are particularly distressed that aid workers are being attacked while carrying out their duties, bringing relief and help to the suffering in Darfur. This is completely unacceptable."
Despite a peace agreement in May between the government and the main Darfur rebel faction, the situation on the ground had continued to deteriorate and a major military buildup had been reported in the region in recent days.
The combined effect of war and famine had left up to 300 000 people dead in Darfur and displaced 2.5 million in three and half years of civil war pitting the Sudanese government and allied militias against local rebels.
Most of the population of Darfur - an area roughly the size of France - relied on aid to survive. The humanitarian effort supervised by the UN in Sudan was the world body's largest.
- AFP
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