By Opheera McDoom
Armed robberies and bandit attacks on aid convoys are threatening deliveries of food to more than 2 million people in Darfur, the World Food Program said on Wednesday.
Around two-thirds of the population of Darfur depend on the world's largest aid operation, but a collapse in law and order in the vast region has made life difficult for humanitarian workers.
Five years of fighting in Darfur has claimed an estimated 200,000 lives and driven 2.5 million from their homes.
So far this year, 22 trucks have been stolen and 18 drivers are missing, WFP officials said, calling on the Sudanese government to make sure the roads are safe.
"Our main trucking companies now refuse to send in more vehicles because of this upsurge in banditry and therefore we have no one to deliver about half our monthly food relief requirement, WFP Sudan country head Kenro Oshidari said in the statement.
"If the situation continues, we'll be forced to cut rations in parts of Darfur by mid-February," he added.
"Attacks on trucks carrying WFP supplies, abductions of drivers and trucks, looting of WFP supplies and drivers' personal property and beatings of WFP-contracted drivers to intimidate them have increased in recent months," the statement said.
In addition to the attacks on drivers under contract, WFP said there were two attacks on WFP staff and vehicles on Tuesday.
Near el-Fasher, Darfur's main town, two vehicles were taken and five staff briefly abducted and threatened with death before being released and walking to safety.
South of el-Geneina, capital of West Darfur state, WFP lorries were shot at. The cab of one vehicle took a direct hit although the driver escaped unharmed.
A joint U.N.-African Union peacekeeping mission took over from struggling AU peacekeepers on December 31, but troop levels are unchanged and the government in Khartoum has obstructed deployment of the new mission.
In the absence of an effective peacekeeping operation, the government has also failed to maintain safety on the roads, although local authorities deny any security problems.
"WFP is urging Sudanese authorities to ensure the safety of main routes in Darfur," the statement added.
Mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in early 2003 accusing central government of marginalizing the region. Khartoum mobilized mainly Arab tribes to quell the insurgency.
Those tribal militias are accused of widespread atrocities against civilians. The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for a junior government minister and an allied militia leader accused of war crimes, but Khartoum refuses to hand them over.
(Reporting by Opheera McDoom; Editing by Giles Elgood)
Copyright © 2008 Reuters
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