Annan: Darfur risks chaos
UNITED NATIONS – Chaos is looming in Sudan’s western Darfur region as violence increases, order collapses, and the number of desperate people in need of humanitarian aid reaches nearly 2.3 million, according to a U.N. report issued Monday.
The optimism generated by an agreement between the government and two rebel groups on humanitarian and security issues has been overshadowed by the deteriorating security situation in recent weeks, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in the report to the U.N. Security Council
The 15-page report details daily attacks, village burnings, rapes, hijackings of relief goods, theft of livestock, the forced movement of thousands of displaced people, and numerous deaths.
“In Darfur, chaos is looming as order is collapsing,” Annan warned.
The violence reached a high point on Nov. 22 when the rebel Sudan Liberation Army attacked the town of Tawila in North Darfur and took control of all police posts within a few hours. The Sudanese army retaliated, reportedly using bomber planes, and forced the SLA to withdraw, but fighting continued in the area for two days causing extensive casualties, the report said.
Annan said the SLA had “aggressively violated” a Nov. 9 accord calling for an end to hostilities and was increasing its attacks against the police. If the government strikes back, “insecurity could worsen substantially,” he said.
The Sudanese government has denied any air attacks and the SLA denied attacking Tawila, which Annan speculated could mean that both sides were not in control of their field commanders on the ground.
The Darfur conflict, which the United Nations describes as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, began in February 2003 when the SLA and allied Justice and Equality Movement took up arms against what they saw as years of state neglect and discrimination against Sudanese of African origin.
The government responded with a counterinsurgency campaign in which the Janjaweed, an Arab militia, has committed wide-scale abuses against the African population. Over 70,000 people have died.
As of Nov. 1, the number of people affected by the conflict and in need of relief had risen by 250,000 to close to 2.3 million, more than one-third of the 6 million people estimated to have been in Darfur before fighting began, Annan said.
“If the security situation does not improve, this upward trend could continue until the end of the year and beyond,” Annan warned.
According to a report from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, Darfur is also facing a fourth consecutive meager harvest, with conditions similiar to those preceding the 1984 famine, he said.