Escalating violence in Darfur condemned

The UN has condemned escalating violence in the Darfur region of western Sudan, saying it threatened ongoing relief activities, violated recently signed ceasefire accords between the government and rebels, and placed tens of thousands of civilians at risk. "The parties have committed themselves to refrain from all hostilities and military actions," the UN envoy for Sudan, Jan Pronk, said in a statement on Tuesday. "I fully expect them to live up to their obligations." The parties, Pronk added, "should understand that the recent aggression goes directly against the spirit and letter of the Abuja Protocols and cannot be justified on the basis of self defence or grievances that predate the 9 November agreement to cease hostile actions". The Protocols on the Improvement of the Humanitarian Situation and on the Enhancement of the Security Situation in Darfur were signed in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, by the government and two rebel groups in Darfur - the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) and the Justice and Equality Movement. Pronk said the renewed violence had forced the suspension of humanitarian activities around El Fashir in North Darfur and threatened other humanitarian activities in the region. According to relief workers, the rebel SLM/A launched attacks on government positions over the weekend, taking control of the town of Tawillah in North Darfur on Monday. The rebels had earlier attacked the West Darfur town of Geraida, forced the police to leave and raised their flag in the town. The sources told IRIN that some 50-60 SLA fighters also attacked a police station in a camp for displaced people near Kalma, in South Darfur on Monday morning, killing a policemen. Three SLM/A fighters also died. The Sudanese Vice President, Ali Osman Taha, told parliament in the capital, Khartoum, on Tuesday that his government had condemned the rebel activities. He said the rebels were responsible for the killing of citizens and destruction of properties, the Sudan News Service reported. The interior minister, Maj-Gen Abdul-Rahim Mohammed Hussein, was quoted by the same news service as saying that the rebels had also attacked several villages over two days - apart from Tawillah, Kalma and Geraida - despite the cease-fire agreement. The attacks started days after the UN Security Council, which met in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, on 18 and 19 November, adopted a resolution demanding that the government, rebel forces and other armed groups in Darfur cease all violence and ensure that their members comply with international humanitarian law. On Monday, the humanitarian agency Save the Children (SCF) flew its staff out of Tawillah as a result of the fighting. "Both sides have demonstrated utter disregard for the ceasefire," Toby Porter, director of emergencies at SCF said in statement. "Yet again, innocent civilians, particularly women and children, are suffering at the hands of the rebels and their own government, and still the international community fails to protect them." Tawillah, in North Darfur state, is home to more than 30,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) who have sought refuge there because of the fear of being attacked by militias, locally known as the Janjawid and who are said to be backed by the government. SCF said an aerial attack by the government, including one bomb, which landed 50 mt from an SCF-UK feeding centre, forced more than 30 of its staff to flee into the desert. African Union (AU) helicopters were used to evacuate SCF staff to safety. The AU condemned the renewed fighting. "We deplore this situation because they have signed a ceasefire and they should abide by that," Assane Ba, AU spokesman told IRIN. "We condemn both sides for breaching this ceasefire." "We call on them to stop fighting and to respect the ceasefire agreement and try to improve the humanitarian situation," Ba said. "People are dying. Our monitors cannot get into the area to confirm the numbers of casualties, but there are casualties for sure." "When we signed the ceasefire agreement in Abuja, it was to help people," the spokesman added. "But up to now, with this new fighting going on, it seems like we are not going anywhere." Indigenous communities in Darfur took up arms in February 2003, accusing Khartoum of decades of neglect and oppression. In its efforts to pacify the region, President Omar El-Bashir’s government is widely believed to have backed the Janjawid, an Arab militia accused of committing atrocities against unarmed civilians. Violations of the ceasefire signed in April between the government and the two rebels groups have been reported, and humanitarian organisations have said these had continued to hamper aid delivery to people displaced by the conflict. About 1.45 million people have been displaced and Janjawid militias, who are allegedly allied to the Sudanese government, stand accused of perpetrating atrocities. Another 200,000 people from the region are living as refugees in neighbouring Chad.