Darfur clashes hinder aid delivery

CAIRO, Egypt – Reported clashes in and around a village in northern Darfur disturbed food deliveries to thousands of displaced people, despite new accords promising aid groups unhindered access, U.N. officials said Sunday.

An African Union team headed to the area to investigate.

One road west of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, leading to the town of Tawilla has been declared a “no-go” zone for U.N. personnel following reports of “serious disturbances” and rumors of “heavy skirmishes” between the government and the rebel Sudan Liberation Army, said Barry Came, a World Food Program staffer in Khartoum.

Reports of violence surfaced Thursday, just eight days after the Sudanese government and the two main rebel groups signed accords promising aid groups unfettered passage to Darfur’s displaced and banning “hostile” military flights over the region.

Because of the violence, the United Nations closed the road from El Fasher to Tawilla and Kabkabiya, Came said.

U.N. food agency trucks loaded with nearly 259 tons of food were stuck in El Fasher for two days before commercial trucks carried the food to Tawilla on Sunday, Came said.

“The commercial truck drivers are prepared to take the risk,” Came said.

A team of African Union personnel left for Tawilla to investigate complaints of violence, said AU Maj. William Molokwane.

Came said a sense of security prevailed for a couple of days after accords were signed Nov. 10 in Nigeria.

“For a couple of days last week, it looked like there was a lessening of tension,” he said, adding that a camp that hosts 150,000 displaced in the Jabal Mara mountains was reached by aid convoys for the first time in two weeks.

Then the Tawilla tension flared up again, he said.