UN urges more Darfur aid access as fighting displaces 34,000

The United Nations (UN) urged Sudan Wednesday to allow more aid into the western region of Darfur where fighting that broke out two weeks ago has displaced about 34,000 people.

About 19,000 civilians have fled into North Darfur and up to 15,000 into Central Darfur, escaping fighting in the mountainous Jebel Marra region that straddles three of Darfur's five states, it said.

"While it is encouraging that some humanitarian assistance is being provided, clearly much more is needed," Marta Ruedas, U.N. Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, said in a statement. "We are therefore advocating for safe and unfettered access to provide timely assistance to those in need."

The United Nations says up to 300,000 people have been killed in Darfur and more than 2.5 million displaced in more than a decade of fighting. Although the killings have ebbed since the war began in 2003, the insurgency continues and Khartoum has escalated attacks on rebel groups in the past year.

UNAMID, a joint U.N.-African Union peacekeeping mission to Darfur, said the latest fighting broke out when an unidentified group attacked the village of Mouli on Jan. 9, displacing large numbers of residents to nearby El Geneina, where they held protests that led to the closure of local businesses and schools in the town.

Source: MENA