A joint UNMIS and OCHA assessment mission on 23 December visited the village of Abu Sakin in North Darfur. The village was found to be completely deserted and looted, with more than 50 houses burned to the ground, the UNMIS bulletin reported Tuesday.Note the AU describes the militia as Arab. Sorry, I still don't get it: why are they called Arab and not Sudanese?
"There are reports that Arab militia continue to loot and patrol the area to deter villagers from returning. There are reports that several thousand villagers are hiding in nearby hills" the bulletin said.
Government police and National security have stepped up the number of road blocks in El Fasher (North Darfur), following the shooting on 23 December of a police officer and an increase in the number of carjackings.
Last month, the African Union blamed Khartoum for worsening security situation in Darfur. The African Union said on Saturday 16 November the situation in Sudan's troubled Darfur region was worsening due to the return of re-armed Janjaweed militia and Khartoum's resolve to use military force.
"The security situation in Darfur is fast deteriorating mainly because of the re-emergence of Janjaweed militias," said an AU communique issued at the end of a meeting on Darfur.
"(They) seem to have been supplied and rearmed and have been carrying out nefarious activities with impunity in parts of Darfur, particularly in areas controlled by the government of Sudan."
The statement added that another cause for the decline was Khartoum's insistence on a military option to quell the conflict.
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Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Janjaweed destroy village in N Darfur
Dec 26 2006 via Sudan Tribune - excerpt:
My guess is that they are called "Arab" and not "Sudanese" for at least two reasons:
ReplyDelete1. The Darfurians, are also Sudanese.
2. There are numerous and consistent accounts from victims of Janjaweed attacks testifying that the attackers taunted their victims and indicated they were targeted because they were "Black" or "slaves" etc. Regardless of whether there is any difference in the actual appearance, nationality, language or religion of the attackers and victims, the killers have chosen to identify their victims as "the other" because the killers view them as "non-Arab."
While I agree that this often results in a gross oversimplification in many media reports, the blame should rest with the Janjaweed killers who have invented this perverted notion of "Arab-ness" not with the AU.