Germany sends aid to Sudan’s troubled Darfur region

BERLIN, Aug 6 (AFP) — The German Red Cross on Friday sent emergency medical aid to Chad for use by refugees from the troubled Darfur region of neighbouring Sudan, the foreign ministry in Berlin said.

Almost 450,000 euros (550,000 dollars) worth of aid was flown by cargo plane out of Cologne, western Germany, to be used to help an estimated 20,000 people, the ministry said in a statement.

It said Germany had now supplied Darfur with 32.5 million dollars and was the second largest provider of aid to the province in the 25-nation European Union.

The 17-month conflict in Darfur — sparked by a revolt against discrimination targeting the region’s non-Arab ethnic minorities — has cost an estimated 30,000 to 50,000 lives and created 1.2 million refugees, 200,000 of whom have fled to Chad.

The United Nations has said the Darfur crisis is the world current worst humanitarian disaster.