The strife-torn Darfur region has been hit by another wave of attacks on civilians, humanitarian workers and African Union (AU) staff members in the past few days, the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) reported today.
About 50 armed militiamen on horseback reportedly attacked a group of women and children who had been trying to collect firewood near Nyala, the provincial capital of South Darfur, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told journalists in New York.
Earlier this week, as many as 10,000 locals protested in Nyala against last Thursday's Security Council resolution calling for the deployment of a UN peacekeeping force in Darfur. The demonstrators threw stones at the offices and vehicles of the UN and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
Mr. Dujarric added that in North Darfur on Monday, five armed men opened at AU staff at the Kassab camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs). No casualties were reported, but six bullets penetrated the AU post at Kassab.
The current AU operation in Darfur, known by the acronym AMIS, is to be replaced by the expanded UN mission under the Council resolution, but the Sudanese Government has said on several occasions that it does not support such a transfer.
Mr. Dujarric also said UNMIS has reported that a vehicle belonging to the UN's World Health Organization (WHO) was hijacked by armed men at Twailla in North Darfur.
Darfur, an impoverished region roughly the size of France on Sudan's western flank, has been beset by war and massive displacement since 2003, when rebel groups took up arms against Government forces and allied militias.
Senior UN officials have warned in recent weeks that a humanitarian catastrophe is looming within weeks unless action is taken to end the violence, looting and displacement that have spiralled in the past four months.