UN official condemns attack on aid personnel in West Darfur

The United Nation’s top humanitarian official in Sudan today strongly condemned the hijacking of two of the Organization’s vehicles by unknown armed men in strife-torn West Darfur, along with the abduction of six aid workers who were later released.

The office of Manuel Aranda da Silva said that staff members of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) were travelling in a two-vehicles clearly marked with the UN refugee agency’s logo, for a routine visit to a refugee camp south-west of the town of El Geneina when they were hijacked.

After several hours of searching by the UN, the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) and Government authorities, the staff members were found unharmed near Saraf Omra, east of Geneina, where they were brought by truck by the local population.

“This demonstrates how difficult it is for humanitarian staff to work in Darfur,” High Commissioner António Guterres told reporters today at UN headquarters in New York. “It is crucial in my opinion for the international community to be fully engaged in putting pressure for a comprehensive, effective peace agreement to be established as quickly as possible.”

Mr. Guterres said that UNHCR was planning to bolster its presence in West Darfur, but its level of operations depended on improved security conditions.

More than 200,000 people have been killed and 2 million others forced to flee their homes in Darfur because of the fighting between Government forces, allied Janjaweed militias and rebel groups since 2003.