Sudanese Rebels Kill 63 In Scattered Attacks Around DarfurNovember 3, 2006
Nji Che - All Headline News African Correspondent
Khartoum, Sudan (AHN) - Pro-government militias have killed at least 63 people in attacks launched around Sudan's Darfur region in the past week.
African Union peacekeepers say more than 27 children under the age of 12 were among those killed.
The attacks occurred around the rebel stronghold of Jebel Moun, in West Darfur. The Janjaweed militia reportedly swept through camps in Jebel Moun on October 29. A team of African Union investigators just returned from the area.
The BBC quotes the National Redemption Front's (NRF) alliance, Bahr Idriss Abu Garda as saying, "The government have begun mobilizing the Janjaweed widely, especially in West Darfur, because they want to clear the area and move north along the border and defeat us." The NRF is a rebel faction that spurned the May peace accord.
In August, the U.N. Security Council voted to replace the underpowered African Union peacekeeping mission with a robust U.N. force. But that hasn't happened. President Omar al-Bashir and his ruling National Congress Party (NCP) have rejected the resolution.
Khartoum claims accommodating a 20,000-man U.N. force would breach Sudan's sovereignty. Bashir also rejected an offer from Arab countries that proposed deployment of Arab and Muslim troops to the regime last month.
Fighting in Darfur, where several rebel factions oppose Sudanese troops and pro-government militia, has escalated since then.
International aid agencies estimate at least 200,000 people have died, while more than 2.5 million others have been uprooted from their ancestral land since fighting erupted in 2003.
Khartoum, Sudan (AHN) - Pro-government militias have killed at least 63 people in attacks launched around Sudan's Darfur region in the past week.
African Union peacekeepers say more than 27 children under the age of 12 were among those killed.
The attacks occurred around the rebel stronghold of Jebel Moun, in West Darfur. The Janjaweed militia reportedly swept through camps in Jebel Moun on October 29. A team of African Union investigators just returned from the area.
The BBC quotes the National Redemption Front's (NRF) alliance, Bahr Idriss Abu Garda as saying, "The government have begun mobilizing the Janjaweed widely, especially in West Darfur, because they want to clear the area and move north along the border and defeat us." The NRF is a rebel faction that spurned the May peace accord.
In August, the U.N. Security Council voted to replace the underpowered African Union peacekeeping mission with a robust U.N. force. But that hasn't happened. President Omar al-Bashir and his ruling National Congress Party (NCP) have rejected the resolution.
Khartoum claims accommodating a 20,000-man U.N. force would breach Sudan's sovereignty. Bashir also rejected an offer from Arab countries that proposed deployment of Arab and Muslim troops to the regime last month.
Fighting in Darfur, where several rebel factions oppose Sudanese troops and pro-government militia, has escalated since then.
International aid agencies estimate at least 200,000 people have died, while more than 2.5 million others have been uprooted from their ancestral land since fighting erupted in 2003.
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