UN mission reports continuing clashes in Darfur

July 31, 2006 (NEW YORK) — Violent clashes between Sudanese Government forces, allied militias and rebel groups continue to plague the strife-torn Darfur region, the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) reported today, while a UN humanitarian convoy has also been ambushed.

UNMIS reported that the security situation in Darfur’s north and west is particularly volatile, with ongoing clashes over the past three days, a UN spokesperson told journalists at UN Headquarters in New York.

In the area around Kulkul in North Darfur, Sudanese Government forces fought members of the rebel group known as the National Redemption Front, prompting internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the area to flee towards the provincial capital, El Fasher.

In West Darfur, a convoy of 29 trucks belonging to the UN World Food Programme (WFP) was ambushed by six armed men on Saturday as it was returning to its base in the provincial capital, Geneina, after distributing food in the district around Habila. The spokesperson said no injuries were reported.

Scores of thousands of people have been killed in Darfur and more than two million others have been displaced since 2003 because of fighting between Government forces, Janjaweed militias and rebels that has led to claims of civilian massacres, rapes and other atrocities.

(UN)