Four items (updated originally to add the Reuters and AP stories; updated further to add the VOA story):
An "official" UNHCR report, reprinted on AlertNet...
The death toll in a murderous assault on a camp and nearby villages in the West Darfur region of Sudan has risen to 34, the UN refugee agency said on Friday after a team it sent to the Aro Sharow camp learned more details about Wednesday's attack by a large group of armed men riding horses and camels.
The UNHCR team reported Friday that many of the 4,000 to 5,000 residents of the camp had returned from the nearby Jebel Moon mountains and surrounding countryside where they initially fled as the horsemen swooped into the camp, killing residents and burning down their makeshift shelters, on Wednesday afternoon.
According to the survivors, after entering the camp, the 250-300 armed Arab men divided into three groups: one peeled off to steal the cattle; a second set about chasing and killing people in the camp; and a third set fire to the flimsy shelters in which the displaced people have been living since abandoning their villages in the area because of similar attacks.
In all, 17 of the displaced people living in the camp were killed, along with 17 more people from nearby villages who were visiting the camp because Wednesday was market day. All 34 victims were male. The UNHCR team witnessed the burial of one of the 34 dead and said the man appeared to have had his arms bound before he was killed. Witnesses in the camp said he had been tied up and dragged to his death behind a horse.
The attack, the first armed assault on a camp for internally displaced people in Darfur, follows a series of worrisome security incidents throughout the region. UNHCR is concerned that the deterioration in security is preventing the provision of vital aid to tens of thousands of internally displaced people in Darfur and could prompt them to flee again – possibly to neighbouring Chad, which is already struggling to cope with more than 200,000 refugees from Sudan.
UNHCR, which carries out protection monitoring in West Darfur, has three offices in the region, with five more planned. There are an estimated 2 million internally displaced people in Darfur, including 715,700 in West Darfur; 770,800 in South Darfur, and 480,000 in North Darfur.
From Reuters...
A total of 34 people were killed when hundreds of armed Arab horsemen raided a refugee camp and nearby villages in Sudan's Darfur region this week, the United Nations said on Friday.
The world body's refugee agency, the UNHCR, said the dead -- five more than it initially reported on Thursday -- were all men. It quoted witnesses as saying one had been dragged to his death behind a horse.
The attack on the Aro Sharow camp on Wednesday, the first reported on a centre for internally displaced people in Darfur, involved 250-300 armed Arab men on horses and camels, the UNHCR said.
It said an agency team on the ground had established that 17 camp residents had been killed and 17 others from nearby villages who had been in the area for market day.
The raiders also stole cattle and burned down the flimsy shelters that house between 4,000 and 5,000 people.
Fighting erupted in Darfur in early 2003 when rebels took up arms over what they saw as Khartoum's preferential treatment of Arab tribes. They accused the government of backing militias that have driven non-Arabs from their villages.
Tens of thousands have been killed and more than 2 million people are living in the camps, mostly inside Darfur, which is the size of France.
Clashes have continued in Darfur despite the rebels and Khartoum signing a ceasefire. Little progress has been made in peace talks.
High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said on Thursday it was the responsibility of the Sudanese government to restore order.
From the AP...
The death toll from an attack on a camp for displaced people in Sudan's embattled Darfur region has risen by five to 34, the U.N. refugee agency said Friday.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said it sent a team to the Aro Sharow camp that had discovered more details about Wednesday's attack by a large group of armed men riding horses and camels.
The UNHCR team reported that many of camp's 4,000-5,000 residents "had returned from the nearby Jebel Moon mountains and surrounding countryside, where they initially fled as the horsemen swooped into the camp, killing residents and burning down their makeshift shelters," the agency said in a statement.
The survivors said the attackers included up to 300 Arab men, who were divided into three groups, according to the agency.
One group stole the camp's cattle; a second chased and killed the camp's residents; while a third set fire to the shelters, the agency said, citing survivor testimony.
The 34 people killed in the attack were men. Half had been living at the camp and half in nearby villages, UNHCR said. One of the victims appeared to have had his arms bound before being killed, and witnesses reported that he was tied up and dragged behind a horse until he was dead, the agency said.
In Khartoum, a senior official of the National Congress, the major partner in Sudan's governing coalition, said no government troops were involved in the attack in West Darfur.
"The outlaws are trying to undermine our bilateral relations," Hussein Barqu told The Associated Press. "This (attack) threatens the security of both Sudan and Chad."
Barqu said the Sudanese government would consult the government of Chad, which borders West Darfur, about the suspected perpetrators of the attack.
The United Nation estimates that the Darfur conflict has left 180,000 people dead - many from hunger and disease - and has driven 2 million from their homes since it started in February 2003.
The attack Wednesday was the first armed assault on a camp for internally displaced people in Darfur, and "follows a series of worrisome security incidents throughout the region," UNHCR said.
The U.N. humanitarian chief, Jan Egeland, warned earlier this week that escalating violence in Darfur was threatening aid for millions of people, as more international staff were coming under attack.
UNHCR said it was concerned that the deterioration in security was slowing aid supplies, and could prompt Darfur's displaced people to flee again - possibly to neighboring Chad, which already has more than 200,000 Sudan refugees.
The Darfur crisis began when rebels took up arms against what they saw as years of state neglect and discrimination against Sudanese of African origin. The government is accused of responding with a counterinsurgency campaign in which the ethnic Arab militia, known as Janjaweed, committed widespread abuses against ethnic Africans.
From VOA...
The U.N. Refugee Agency reports the death toll in a murderous assault on a camp and nearby villages in the West Darfur region of Sudan has risen to 34. A UNHCR team of protection monitors that went to the region Friday morning describes a scene of fear and desolation.
The U.N. Refugee Agency says the Aro Sharow camp in Western Darfur was attacked on Wednesday by a group of 250 to 300 armed Arab men riding horses and camels. They also attacked some nearby villages.
UNHCR Spokesman, Ron Redmond, tells VOA 34 people were killed, 10 were seriously wounded and 80 makeshift shelters in the camp were burned.
"In all, 17 of the dead actually lived in the camp and another 17 lived in nearby villages and had been visiting the camp because Wednesday was market day," he said. "All 34 of the victims were males. The UNHCR team witnessed the burial of one of the 34 dead and said the man appeared to have had his arms bound before he was killed. Witnesses in the camp said he had been tied up and dragged to his death behind a horse."
After the attack, Mr. Redmond says 4,000 to 5,000 residents of the camp fled to the nearby Jebel Moon mountains for safety. But, the UNHCR team reports many of these people now have returned to the camp.
According to the survivors, the armed men divided into three groups after entering the camp. They said one group stole the cattle, a second chased and killed the people in the camp and a third group set fire to the flimsy shelters.
This is the first time a camp for internally displaced people has been attacked since fighting erupted in Darfur in early 2003. It follows a series of worrisome security incidents throughout the region. The camp is located in an area that has been a no-go zone for the United Nations for months because of the violence.
Mr. Redmond says the UNHCR is concerned the worsening security situation might prevent vital aid from getting through to tens of thousands of vulnerable people.
"And, we also worry that if this violence and insecurity continues, we could see more people fleeing from Darfur to nearby Chad where we have already got 12 refugee camps bursting at the seams with about 200,000 people," he said. "So, we sincerely hope that this violence can be brought to an end and that the Sudanese government accepts its responsibility to protect its own citizens and halts this violence."
Since the war began, tens of thousands of people have been killed and more than two million made homeless. Little progress has been made in peace talks in Abuja, Nigeria.
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