Sudan: More Violence Reported in Darfur

Sudan: More Violence Reported in Darfur

March 5, 2004‎
Posted to the web March 5, 2004‎
Nairobi
Armed horsemen and the Sudanese army killed at least 67 people, abducted 16 ‎schoolgirls and raped others in front of their families during an attack in Northern Darfur, ‎according to the UN.‎

Residents of the town of Tawilah described a well-organised attack by "horsemen and ‎military" on 27 February, the latest report of the UN Darfur Task Force issued on ‎Thursday said.‎

The government of Sudan has said 67 were killed, while locals describe seeing up to 80 ‎bodies as they fled from the scene.‎

By the time UN officials arrived in Tawilah on 3 March, only about 100 people had ‎remained there, the report said. Others are believed to be hiding in a local riverbed and ‎surrounding areas. Around 5,500 who fled to Al-Fashir, the capital of Northern Darfur ‎State, are now registered and encamped close to the airport.‎

Humanitarian workers were told that a number of children had died from dehydration on ‎the way from Tawilah to Al-Fashir, the report added.‎

There are also unverified reports that attacks by the army and the Janjawid attacks are on ‎the increase in Southern Darfur, with internally displaced persons (IDPs) fearing for their ‎lives, and women and girls being "branded" on their hands after being raped, the report ‎added. On 2 March, 15 people were reportedly killed and 30 injured in an area about 15 ‎km from Nyala, the capital of Southern Darfur State.‎

An inter-agency assessment team was told that between 2,000 and 3,000 Janjawid were ‎camped outside the town of Dulayj, where people from 55 surrounding villages had ‎gathered after 30 nearby villages were attacked and burned to the ground.‎

‎"IDPs in some areas continue to assert that they are not prepared to receive UN ‎humanitarian assistance due to fear of subsequent #####ng by militia," the UN report said.‎

The humanitarian community has repeatedly urged the Sudanese government to halt the ‎militia and military attacks and protect its own people, which it has so far failed to do. ‎The Arab militias, who are armed by the government, appear to have been given a carte ‎blanche to systematically loot, rape, kill and grab land from the Fur, Zaghawah and ‎Masalit ethnic groups, observers note, action amounting to what many are calling ethnic ‎cleansing.‎