UN mission reports more attacks on aid workers in South Darfur

The United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) reports that aid workers continue to be victims of attacks, including several carjackings, in the south of the violence-wracked Darfur region.

In one incident, the driver of a vehicle belonging to an international non-governmental organization (NGO) was tied up and beaten. He is now being treated at a UN clinic in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state. A UN convoy was also attacked the same day.

The latest incidents follow last week’s attack in South Darfur in which a convoy of aid workers was ambushed and shot at by unknown gunmen.

Two of eight staff members of the NGO World Vision International travelling in the convoy were shot in the head, while a third staff member was struck in the arm. The other five were hit by glass fragments and shrapnel. All eight survived the attack.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), attacks against the relief community have increased by 150 per cent in the past year, threatening the lifeline to an ever-increasing number of displaced and conflict-affected people.

There are some 13,000 relief workers in Darfur trying to reach a total of four million people affected by the fighting which began four years ago between the Sudanese Government forces, allied Janjaweed militias and rebel groups.

Meanwhile, in West Darfur, as part of continuing efforts to reduce the risk of water-borne diseases following recent floods, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has taken part in hygiene promotion campaigns in several camps, and has also provided anti-malaria medicines and mosquito nets.