Sudanese govt troops reportedly kill aid worker in Darfur

NAIROBI, Dec 22, 2004 (AP) — Sudanese government troops attacking a town in the country’s volatile Darfur region shot dead an aid worker in front of a warehouse used by the international medical aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres, the organization charged Wednesday.

Sudanese national policemen leave the Governor compound in Nyala, South Darfur, Sudan. (AFP)

The victim is the second Sudanese aid worker with the organization who has been killed in the region in the last three months, MSF said. Some 29 other Sudanese workers for the group are still missing following the Dec. 17 raid on Labado, a town in South Darfur, MSF said in a statement.

The town, with a population of 27,000, has been the scene of fighting over the past few days, the group said.

Tuesday, Save the Children U.K. said it was pulling out of Darfur because four of its workers have been killed there by gunfire and a land mine explosion since October.

“Aid workers are increasingly at risk in Darfur. Several organizations have lost staff,” the aid group, also known as Doctors without Borders, said. “MSF calls upon all parties to respect the neutrality of our organization, our staff and the work we do.”

Medecins Sans Frontieres has been in Labado since Sept. 4 – the only international organization providing uninterrupted aid to residents through a feeding center and clinic. However, since the fighting erupted last week, the team has been unable to reach the town, the group said.