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The village of Labado in South Darfur has been destroyed by government forces and is now completely abandoned; for now, the only confirmed casualty is a local staff member of M�decins sans Fronti�res (Doctors without Borders, MSF). The news comes from the international humanitarian organisation, which learned of Friday�s attack from staff members who have taken refuge along with displaced people in the city of Shariya. �The village was set on fire and the entire population (27.000 inhabitants, ed.) fled to nearby settlements,� Ton Koene, MSF director in South Darfur, told MISNA. The MSF staff member was killed outside the organisation�s warehouse while he was off duty. �The inhabitants claim that the government forces launched an air strike against the village while the Arab Janjaweed militias attacked from the ground,� continued Koene, adding that for the time being it is not possible to give a precis
e toll
of civilian casualties. The first refugees walked to Shariya, 50 kilometres north of Labado, and Kalma, 100 kilometres to the west, where they received assistance from the local MSF teams. However, it is not clear where most of the refugees, or 29 MSF staff members working in a feeding centre and a clinic, have gone. The attack against Labado is the latest violation of the ceasefire agreement signed by the two sides in the 20-month Darfur conflict � the government and the rebels of SLA-M (Sudan�s Liberation Army-Movement) and JEM (Justice and Equality Movement) � in April, while aid agencies are finding it increasingly difficult to assist the local population due to insecurity on the ground: yesterday the British charity �Save the Children� announced the withdrawal of all 350 staff members from Darfur following the recent killing of two of its local employees in South Darfur. Yesterday, African Union brokered peace talks in Abuja were suspended until January while both sides
pledged
to uphold the ceasefire. The crisis in Darfur exploded in February 2003, when two popular self-defence movements took up arms against the government of Khartoum, accusing it of neglecting the region and of backing the militias of Arab predators known as Janjaweed, who have brought death and destruction to the area for years; since then, an unknown number of people have died (tens of thousands according to the United Nations, �just� 5.000 according to the Sudanese government), while over 1.5 million people have been internally displaced and at least 200.000 people have sought refuge in neighbouring Chad.[LC] |
