UN official: Khartoum knew of Darfur militia raid (original) (raw)

The Sudanese government almost certainly had prior knowledge of militia attacks in Buram, south Darfur, in which several hundred people may have died, Louise Arbour, the UN human rights commissioner, said yesterday. The attacks, described in a 15-page report as "massive in scale and carried out over a few days", started in late August.

Scores of families were separated in the panic to escape, and many children are missing. The raids emptied some 47 villages and were carried out by between 300 and 1,000 armed men from the Habbania tribe of camel herders, from three African groups, the report says.

The attacks began on August 28 when eight villages were struck by men in khaki uniform riding camels. Cattle and property were looted and hundreds of people were injured or killed. Two days later the village of Amorodh al-Akdhar, where many had taken refuge, was also attacked.

Habbania militias rode horses and camels and were accompanied by two vehicles with mounted machine guns. People tried to flee, but "the assailants fired extensively and indiscriminately, using heavy weapons", the report says. Another tribe, known as the Fallata, joined the assault in subsequent days as survivors straggled out of the area.

The motives for the attack are unclear. The report points out that thousands of African migrants from the Zaghawa and Massalit tribes moved into the area after drought struck north Darfur in the 1970s. They started cultivating land belonging to the Habbania. Although there was always minor tension, some witnesses said the Habbania chose this moment to attack as they feared the possible arrival of foreign peacekeepers would allow the newcomers to settle permanently.

Other evidence suggests that the attacks were in response to raids by rebels from the National Redemption Front, which rejects an internationally brokered peace deal signed in May. According to one Habbania leader, "we attacked after we reported the incidents many times to the government and after we were provoked and attacked". He said the rebels killed the brother of Agid Ayadi, a militia leader with links to the Sudanese army.

But witnesses claimed that Agid Ayadi had organised a meeting to get recruits for the attacks on the African villages. Two people recognised high-ranking government officials in uniform at the meeting, where the militia leaders boasted of having government blessing for the raids. The local government commissioner told the UN's investigators that the attacks were a response "to earlier attacks by the rebels".

The area has been insecure for months and no foreign aid agencies have been able to work there. The UN human rights office called on the Sudanese government to hold an inquiry and work with African Union peacekeepers to help the displaced people to return.

A UN official in Khartoum gave a third possible explanation last night for the attacks. Jean Christophe, a protection officer for the UN mission in Sudan, said "the location of the emptied villages matches the map of oil concessions in south Darfur, so oil may have something to do with it". The concession, known as Block No 6, was awarded to the Chinese National Petroleum Corporation, though there are rumours it may have been sold.

At the opposite end of Darfur on the north-west border with Chad, Sudanese forces came under heavy attack on Saturday from the rebel group known as the Justice and Equality Movement, which also refused to sign the peace deal.

A Sudanese security source accused the Chadian government of joining in the raid. "It's something new to have Chadian army vehicles, as well as officers and men, help them and take part," he told the Guardian last night. A rebel commander told the Reuters news agency that 70 vehicles and more than 100 prisoners were seized. The security source would only confirm that "senior Sudanese officers were captured and some soldiers killed and injured".