Rebels attack vehicles carrying humanitarian aid in darfur

The United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) on 6 September reported
continuing accounts of fighting between rebel militia and the nomadic
Janjaweed militia, looting of humanitarian assistance and attacks on
villages in the Darfur regions of western Sudan.

The combat between the Janjaweed and the Sudanese Liberation Army (SLA) has
been taking place in the Jabal Moon hills in North Darfur, it said, but the
situation in West Darfur is most troubling, following two attacks last week
Thursday on humanitarian convoys sent in by non-governmental organizations
(NGOs).

The first attack was on an NGO convoy of seven vehicles with 21 staff
members traveling to Geneina by way of Masteri. The bandits took cash,
cameras and other personal belongings and ripped out all VHF communication
equipment. The bandits then beat the staff members with sticks and rifles
while they were lying on the ground,UNMIS said.

Seventeen persons suffered such injuries as blunt trauma, head injuries
needing stitches and back injuries, it said. Troops from the African
Union's (AU) peacekeeping mission, AMIS, have started intensive patrolling
in the general area of the ambush.

On the same day an NGO convoy of three vehicles, with drivers only, was
attacked by nine masked, armed men on the road from Mornei to Geneina. The
attackers stole the drivers’ personal belongings and a VHF radio, but the
drivers reached Geneina safely later that afternoon, UNMIS said.