June 2nd, 2007 - OurPledge.org (AADG)  Permalink  View & Add Comments

Hundreds flee Darfur town after attacks

Bradley S. Klapper - Associated Press

GENEVA, June 2, 2007—Hundreds of women and children fled by foot and on donkeys from Darfur to the neighboring Central African Republic after their town was attacked by planes and helicopters, the U.N. refugee agency said Friday.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees was rushing aid to the 1,500 refugees who made the grueling 125-mile journey over 10 days, said spokeswoman Jennifer Pagonis.

The refugees told U.N. officials their town of Dafak was attacked repeatedly by janjaweed militia from May 12 to May 18 and that their homes had been bombarded by airstrikes, Pagonis said.

“There were more air attacks even as they were fleeing,” the refugees told UNHCR monitors, according to Pagonis. “Refugees said they will not return to Darfur before basic safety…can be guaranteed. Many of them expressed fear of further attacks.”

The U.N. and African Union peacekeepers regularly report that the Sudanese air force bombs Darfur villagers and rebel positions, despite a U.N. resolution forbidding such attacks. Aid and humanitarian workers, as well as Darfur survivors, have said the air attacks are often in preparation for raids by pro-government janjaweed militiamen that follow shortly after the bombings.

A Sudanese military official contacted in Khartoum declined comment on the attacks.

More than 200,000 people in Darfur have been killed and 2.5 million chased from their homes since fighting broke out in 2003 between ethnic African rebels and the janjaweed militia. A beleaguered, 7,000-member African Union force has been unable to stop the fighting and neither has a peace agreement signed a year ago year between the government and one rebel group.

Pagonis said the U.N. refugee agency was sending in 600 rolls of plastic sheeting—enough to provide temporary shelter for 3,000 people—while other U.N. agencies arrange for food, water and sanitation supplies.