Armed men attack UNHCR field office in Darfur, wound guard

June 13, 2006 (GENEVA) — Four armed men attacked a U.N. field office in Darfur, shooting one guard in the leg, the world body’s refugee agency said Tuesday.

The men, who were wearing military uniforms, attacked the office in Habila in the far west of Sudan’s Darfur region late Monday, said Jennifer Pagonis, spokeswoman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.

Habila is about 95 km south of the West Darfur capital of al-Geneina. UNHCR has seven staff in Habila, and around 75 in West Darfur.

In mid-May, UNHCR started moving Chadian refugees, who had taken refuge in the area after fleeing military and bandit activity along the border between Chad and Sudan, to a new refugee camp 60 km away at Um Shalaya. Some 3,000 of the estimated 5,000 people at the Habila site have now been moved.

“Previously this are had been calm, so it’s a bit disturbing,” Pagonis told reporters.

The attackers forced their way in, shot the guard, stole communications equipment, asked one of the staff for money and then left, Pagonis said. She had few other details.

“Police were called in to provide protection for the compound. No other staff members were hurt in the incident,” she added.

It’s unclear who the armed men were and whether they are part of any specific organization.

More than 300,000 people have died and 2.5 million have been forced from their homes since the large-scale fighting broke out in Darfur in 2003. Banditry has increased amid the chaos of war.

(ST/AP)