Seven police officers injured in rebel attack in Darfur: Sudanese govt

KHARTOUM, Sudan, Dec 11, 2004 (AP) — The Sudanese Ministry of Interior said seven police officers were injured Friday evening when a rebel group attacked a police convoy in north Darfur, the official Sudanese news agency reported Saturday.

A Sudanese policeman talks to displaced people in the Kalma camp, near Nyala in south Darfur October 9, 2004. (AFP).

The seven officers were in a hospital in Tawilla, according to a statement by the minister of interior broadcast by SUNA. The convoy was traveling from Khor Tawilla to Um.

“This is a continuation of the series of violations and aggressions carried about by the rebels in the states of Darfur,” said the statement.

The SUNA report did not provide further details.

The latest report on Darfur by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan warns of looming chaos as violence increases and the number of desperate people in need of humanitarian aid reaches nearly 2.3 million.

Darfur’s conflict, which the U.N. describes as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, started in February 2003 when two non-Arab African rebel groups took up arms to fight for more power and resources.

The Arab-dominated Sudanese government responded by backing a militia known as the Janjaweed, which is now accused of targeting civilians in a campaign of murder, rape and arson.

International agencies estimate that since March, disease, malnutrition and clashes among the displaced have killed more than 70,000 people. More than 1.5 million people have been displaced.