Horrific trip into Chad's massacre

By RICH SCHAPIRO

Since 2003, more than 200,000 people have been killed and another 2 million forced from their homes in Darfur, an area in western Sudan that is over two-thirds the size of Texas. With the backing of the Sudanese government, Arab militias known as the Janjaweed have subjected black Africans to a systematic campaign of rape, murder and displacement. Daily News reporter Rich Schapiro and photographer Robert Sabo went to Darfur and neighboring Chad to get a firsthand look at the escalating disaster.

GOZ BEIDA, Chad - Before we saw them, we had been driving for three long hours along a narrow path past rocks and thorn trees.

And then, there they were: plumes of smoke billowing high in the air from a village only 2 miles away.

We knew it was the work of the Janjaweed, the Arab militiamen who travel atop horses and camels. They are known in this rapidly unraveling region in central Africa as "devils on horseback." Read more >>>