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UN: DARFUR:
UN FOOD AGENCY DECRIES KILLING OF THREE CONTRACT TRUCK DRIVERS:
17/10/2007
(MaximsNews Network)
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UNITED
NATIONS - / MaximsNews Network /
- 17 October 2007 –The
United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today decried the killing of three
truck drivers who were shot to death while working for the agency in the
violence-wracked Darfur region in Sudan.
“WFP
is deeply saddened and shocked by the killings of these brave men, who knew the
dangers they were facing but continued to work tirelessly to alleviate suffering
and bring food to the hungry in Darfur,” said Kenro Oshidari, the agency’s
Sudan representative.
WFP,
which employs 20,000 contract drivers and their assistants in Darfur, has no
information on who is responsible for the killings.
The
three men worked for the Abbarci trucking company in Darfur, where the agency
has its largest operation worldwide and distributes food to some 3 million
people.
Two of
the men were killed yesterday while returning to the city of El Obeid in South
Darfur state after delivering supplies. This is the same Darfur region where 10
African Union (AU) peacekeepers were recently killed.
Meanwhile,
the third man was killed last Friday, 12 October, during the Muslim holiday of
Eid, in South Darfur on the road between Nyala, the state capital, and the city
of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur. During the incident, 25 bags of grain
were looted from the truck.
The UN
remains “seriously concerned about the safety of civilians throughout Darfur,”
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s spokesperson Michele Montas told reporters in
New York today.
Rising
insecurity in Darfur has lead to increased attacks against civilians, aid
workers and AU troops. This is detrimental to the civilian population and is
also impeding crucial life-saving aid programmes when they are most needed, she
added.
More
than 200,000 people have been killed in Darfur and at least 2.2 million others
forced to flee their homes because of fighting between the rebels, Government
forces and allied militia known as the Janjaweed.
Some 4.2
million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, and nearly 90,000
civilians have fled recent violence in Haskanita and Muhajariya.
Earlier
this year the Security Council authorized the creation of a hybrid UN-AU
peacekeeping force, known as UNAMID, to try to quell the violence. The operation
– set to become the world’s largest peacekeeping operation – is scheduled
to take over from the existing AU mission by the start of next year.
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Labels: United
Nations, U.N.,
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