Arson, Looting May Have Displaced 40,000 in Sudan's Darfur

Almost 40,000 people may have been displaced by militia arson and looting in Sudan's Darfur region, according to new data obtained by Agence France Presse on Tuesday.

More than 19,000 arrivals have been recorded at two camps for displaced people near the South Darfur state capital, Nyala, the International Organisation for Migration said.

Mario Lito Malanca, IOM's chief of mission in Sudan, told AFP his agency registered 5,473 displaced in Kalma camp and another 14,015 in Al-Salam camp.

That is in addition to an estimated 20,000 whom the U.N.'s World Food Programme said fled to safety at Saniya Deleiba, a village about 35 kilometers (22 miles) from Nyala.

WFP trucks on Tuesday reached Saniya Deleiba and delivered food to the needy.

"They managed to reach all of them," but the exact number is still being verified, WFP public information officer Amor Almagro said.

WFP, assisted by World Vision International, will soon start distributing 15-day emergency rations of cereals and lentils to the new arrivals in Kalma and Al-Salam camps as well, Almagro added.

The African Union-United Nations peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) said it had reports of villages burned, looting, and civilian casualties.

However, UNAMID said that on Tuesday Sudanese authorities again denied peacekeepers access to the affected areas, despite an agreement with the government which says the blue helmets should have freedom of movement.

"This is our fifth attempt to get in there," Christopher Cycmanick, UNAMID's head of media relations, told AFP.

UNAMID was, however, able to escort the WFP convoy to Saniya Deleiba, he said.

There are reports of people still fleeing the conflict area, with the security situation unpredictable and gunmen stationed on the main roads to Kalma and Al-Salam, a humanitarian source told AFP.

The new surge of displaced adds to the strain on agencies already struggling to assist almost two million people uprooted by 11 years of rebel-government war in Darfur, and a surge of inter-Arab militia fighting last year.

Non-Arab rebels rose up in Darfur in 2003, seeking an end to what they viewed as Arab elites' domination of Sudan's power and wealth.

In response, government-backed Janjaweed militiamen, recruited among the region's Arab tribes, shocked the world with atrocities against civilians.

Analysts say Sudan's cash-starved government can no longer control its former Arab tribal allies, whom it armed against the rebellion.

As a result, the militia have turned on each other in a struggle for resources. They have also been blamed for kidnapping, carjacking and other crimes.

Sources in the area told AFP that "all indications" are that so-called Rapid Support Forces, a Darfur militia, appear to be behind the latest violence.

The Rapid Support Forces had been assisting government operations against rebels in South Kordofan state before they moved on to North Kordofan, the official SUNA news agency reported.

The militia returned to Darfur after North Kordofan governor Ahmed Haroun ordered them out of his territory last month, saying they had "instigated panic and anarchy", SUNA said.

Arriving in Nyala on Monday, the Rapid Support Forces "put on a show of military might that reassured the citizens of the security situation," SUNA said.

It quoted the unit's commander, Major General Abbas Abdel Aziz, as saying the troops "work to protect the citizens and their properties from the rebel forces".