Unknown gunmen attack aid workers in Darfur

Sunday 23 September 2007.

September 22, 2007 (UNITED NATIONS) — Three aid workers are wounded in an ambush staged by unidentified gunmen in South Darfur near Bulbul Timisgo, a small village on the main road between Nyala and Kass, the UN said today.

A convoy from U.S.-based World Vision International, which included eight staff members, was attacked on Thursday September 20. The three wounded aid workers are Sudanese; two of them were transported to Khartoum for medical attention while the third is treated in Nyala due to the severity of his injuries.

Attacks against relief workers increased by 150% from June 2006 to June 2007, the UN said. Since the start of 2007, some 98 vehicles have been hijacked, some 105 staff were temporarily taken hostage, more than 66 humanitarian personnel have been physically or sexually assaulted, and 61 convoys have been ambushed and looted.

John Holmes, the U.N. undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs, condemned the attack and urged the Sudanese government to find the attackers and to punish them.

“This is a horrifying and brutal attack on aid staff who are working to save the lives of Sudanese people,” said John Holmes, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. “We call on the Government of Sudan to act with all speed to identify those responsible and ensure that they are held accountable for their crime,” he added.

The UN statement didn’t identify the attackers but underscored that "clashes among rival Arab tribes in this area in 2007 have caused significant levels of destruction and displacement."

"The area is also beset by banditry and violence." The UN further said.

World Vision, one of the world’s largest NGOs, provides a wide range of relief assistance in South Darfur, with projects in food aid, nutrition, water, education, sanitation, and agriculture, among others. They employ several hundred staff there.

(ST)