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UN:
FIERCE CLASHES IN SOUTH DARFUR TOWN ALARM UN MISSION IN SUDAN:
12/9/2007 (MaximsNews.com, U.N.) |
UNITED NATIONS - / www.MaximsNews.com@
U.N./
- 12 September 2007 – Grave
reports have emerged of fresh fighting between Sudanese Government armed forces
and Darfur rebel groups in the south of the war-torn region, the United Nations
Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) reported yesterday, raising alarm about the timing of
attacks, which came on the heels of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s visit to
the country.
UNMIS
said the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) – which is operating in Darfur
until the hybrid UN-AU peacekeeping force (UNAMID) takes over next year –
reported that fierce fighting took place yesterday afternoon in the town of
Haskanita in South Darfur state.
The
reports indicate that the violence between Government forces and rebels occurred
close to the AMIS military group site in Haskanita, forcing mission personnel
there to take cover and local civilians to seek refuge around the camp.
A
statement from AMIS noted that while the details of the clashes have not yet
been properly investigated, there is clear evidence of heavy fighting –
including the use of helicopter gunships.
“Given
the critical stage of the peace process, the forthcoming negotiations in Libya
and the commitments made by all parties to uphold the ceasefire, the nature,
scale and timing of these attacks is astonishing,” according to the statement.
“It is
particularly alarming that these developments should take place so soon after
the visit of the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the positive atmosphere
which it created.”
AMIS is
mandated to monitor the ceasefire between the Government and the rebels in
Darfur, where more than 200,000 people have been killed and at least 2.2 million
others forced to flee their homes since 2003.
UNMIS
also reported that four armed men shot and wounded an internally displaced
persons (IDP) in the Kalma camp in South Darfur yesterday, while a boy from the
Fur tribe was reportedly beaten by several armed men in the same camp.
On
Sunday, a group of 20 women from an IDP camp in Zalingei in West Darfur were
briefly detained by an Arab militia while fetching fire wood, but they were
later released.
Labels: United
Nations, U.N.,
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