U.N. Says Landmine Killed Red Crescent Worker in Sudan's Kordofan

A landmine blast in war-torn South Kordofan last week killed a Red Crescent worker and wounder several others, the United Nations said on Tuesday clarifying earlier accounts.

Ali al-Za'tari, who heads the U.N. mission in Sudan, gave new details about the blast which was first reported on February 12 by Sudan's official Radio Omdurman.

The radio report said five people were killed and 13 wounded but gave no details.

Za'tari "is saddened to hear that a volunteer with the Sudanese Red Crescent Society was killed by a land mine near Abu Jubaiha in South Kordofan", a U.N. statement said.

"Other volunteers were also critically injured by the explosion."

It occurred on the eve of the first peace talks in almost a year between the government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North.

There are no reliable figures for how many people have died in nearly three years of fighting in Kordofan and Blue Nile, but the United Nations says an estimated 1.2 million people have been displaced or otherwise affected.

"Sudan has one of the largest landmine problems in East Africa," Za'tari said.

"To help prevent such tragedies, more resources need to be directed to humanitarian demining efforts, mine risk education, and clearing the explosive remnants of war in Sudan."

According to the Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor, an initiative of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, South Kordofan is the most heavily-mined area of Sudan.

There were 48 confirmed mined areas as of May, 2013, the Monitor said in a November report.