Violence overwhelms relief workers in Darfur

By Evelyn Leopold

UNITED NATIONS, July 10 (Reuters) - Violence has escalated in Sudan's Darfur region since January, throwing another 160,000 people out of their homes and forcing 4.2 million people, about two-thirds of the population, to go on relief aid, the United Nations reported on Tuesday.

Some 2.1 million people have been uprooted from their villages in addition to the more than 200,000 who have fled the country, mainly to neighboring Chad, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, known as OCHA, said.

Particularly worrying are attacks against relief workers, which have increased 150 percent over the past year, OCHA said.

In June, one out of every six convoys leaving provincial capitals in Darfur was hijacked or ambushed by "armed groups," a term usually applied to bandits or anti-government rebels. Since January, some 64 vehicles have been hijacked, with 132 staff temporarily detained, often at gunpoint.

"This kind of lawlessness by armed groups of different political affiliations has forced relief organizations to suspend programming and relocate out of dangerous environments on 15 occasions, temporarily depriving over 1 million beneficiaries of life-saving assistance," OCHA said. Read more >>>>