16 killed in Darfur, humanitarian aid road closed: UN spokesman

KHARTOUM, Nov 17 (AFP) — A United Nations official said that 16 people had been killed in a string of incidents in the troubled Darfur region of west Sudan and a road vital for delivering humanitarian aid closed.

Sudan Liberation Army rebels cheer as they speed across the desert east of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state November 8, 2004. (Reuters).

A spokesman for UN special envoy Jan Pronk said a group of government troops and civilians on November 9 went to the Bulbul area of South Darfur state where a government vehicle was ambushed the previous day and a doctor killed.

“In an apparent act of revenge, the military and civilians killed eight bandits and captured one, while another bandit managed to escape,” said George Sommerwill, adding that the assailants were Arab tribesmen.

Sommerwill said a series of armed clashes in a marketplace in Tawila area, North Darfur, last week resulted in the deaths of three gunmen and a woman caught in the crossfire.

“As a result, El-Fashir-Tawila-Kabkabiya road is now closed for UN movement, affecting humanitarian assistance to approximately 140,000 conflict-affected people,” he warned.

Sommerwill also said that armed men on camel and horseback, wearing camouflage uniforms, attacked Kalakiti village in South Darfur on November 12.

“As a result of the subsequent gunbattle, three people were killed and two others seriously injured and a further 20 were scattered. It is not known where they went,” Sommerwill said.

Tens of thousands of people have died and an estimated 1.5 million been displaced in the 21-month conflict in Darfur pitting rebels against government forces allied with local militiamen.