U.S. sends food, cash for Darfur victims

WASHINGTON, April 9, 2004 (UPI) — The United States has provided $40 million for the victims of violence in Sudan’s Darfur region and is putting together a disaster assistance response team.

The U.S. State Department announced Friday that since October 2003, it has sent 43,000 metric tons of food to the region, more than half of which has already arrived there.

Besides the $40 million food aid, distributed through the World Food Program, the United States has also provided $1.5 million to the United Nations Children’s Fund, Midair, and the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations.

U.S. authorities also have contributed more than $11 million for Darfur refugees in eastern Chad, the State Department said.

Media reports from Darfur indicate that government-militias have killed hundreds of innocent civilians in the region and are destroying homes and property of those opposed to the government.