Disaster in Darfur Continues

Sudanese forces and the janjaweed have renewed attacks in Darfur. The lede doesn't say attacks on who. Curious isn't it? You read the article, and you never do find out who they're attacking, killing, or injuring.

One would presume that they're going after rebel forces, but they're raiding villages and engaging in ethnic cleansing:

The Sudanese government together with the Janjaweed militia have launched new attacks in northern Darfur, the African Union (AU) has said.
The AU said the ground and air offensive was a flagrant violation of security agreements.

It said there had been a heavy toll on a civilian population. Rebels in the area said 70 people had died.

Earlier, Sudan welcomed the UN's support for AU peacekeepers in Darfur but denied the UN will take command.

The AU said in a statement that Birmaza, a much fought over village in Darfur, had been subject to ground and aerial assault.

The statement said there had been heavy casualties among the civilian population, but gave no figures.

Rebels in the area said the government troops and Arab militia were continuing on Saturday to burn villages and loot cattle.

Sudan is resisting pressure from the West to allow peacekeepers access to Darfur, let alone UN forces to replace the AU.

Jan Egeland warns that the situation in Darfur may get infinitely worse. Well, don't count on the UN actually stepping in and demanding access to the region, along with the peacekeepers to stop the violence and put down the Sudanese militias and janjaweed that have displaced millions, and killed hundreds of thousands of people.

A joint Sudanese army and pro-government janjaweed militia attack killed several civilians in the Jebel Marra mountain range late Friday, hours after he was barred from going there, Egeland said. He did not specify how many people had died in this rebel stronghold.

Egeland also hoped that the implementation of the agreement reached in Addis Ababa would be used "to turn the corner to something better" in the relations between Khartoum and humanitarian workers.

Sudanese government officials were threatening to ban any aid group or U.N. agency from working in Darfur next year, said Egeland, who stated that "the international right to humanitarian access is being ignored in Darfur."

More than US$1 billion (€0.78 billion) are being spent in humanitarian aid to Darfur this year, he said, stating that the single largest donor was the United States.

Far from being helpful, Khartoum is closing off access to Darfur. What is it that the regime doesn't want the world to know or see? That the genocide and ethnic cleansing continues - aided and abetted by Sudanese forces?

Where is the UN Human Rights Committees and international organizations decrying Sudanese actions, demanding investigations into war crimes, crimes against humanity, and a whole host of other related charges brought against the Sudanese government for condoning the actions in Darfur? They certainly seem to find the time to go after Israel when Israel goes after terrorists who seek to kill Israelis, yet they turn a blind eye to when Sudan goes after unarmed subsistence farmers - destroying their villages and chasing them clear into neighboring countries.

Technorati: darfur, dafur, UN, sudan, chad, somalia, ethiopia, eritrea, african union, janjaweed, and Kofi Annan