Earlier this week, refugee camps in Darfur’s Jebel Moon area were raided by militia killing civilians and causing thousands to flee.
According to the New York Times: Nov. 2 (Reuters) — Militia attacks on refugee camps in Sudan’s Darfur region this week killed scores of civilians, including 27 children under the age of 12, the United Nations said Thursday, condemning the raids.
The militias attacked eight settlements, including a camp sheltering 3,500 people who had been driven from their homes by the violence in war-torn Darfur, a United Nations spokeswoman, Marie Okabe, said.
The attacks took place in Darfur’s Jebel Moon area on Sunday and Monday, forcing thousands to flee, Ms. Okabe said.
The United Nations secretary general, Kofi Annan, urged all parties in the area to end attacks and appealed to Sudan’s government to do all it could to protect civilians from such attacks, she said.
At least 200,000 people have been killed in Darfur over the past three and a half years, and the violence has forced 2.5 million people to flee to poorly protected camps.
United Nations officials say that the fighting in Darfur among government troops, rebels and militias is increasing despite a peace agreement brokered this year by the African Union.
The United Nations has been trying to deploy a peacekeeping mission to Darfur, taking over from the poorly equipped African Union force there, but it has been stymied by opposition from Sudan’s government.