The United Nations has suspended its humanitarian operations following the shooting of two aid workers in Sudan's unstable region of South Darfur. On 12th December, medical assistant Abhakar el Tayeb and mechanic Yacoub Abdelnabi Ahmed, both Sudanese employees of Save the Children, were shot dead when their convoy came under fire.

"Our humanitarian operations in South Darfur are currently suspended whilst we review the situation. An African Union investigation is under way," said a statement released by the U.N.

Save the Children UK was carrying out "essential lifesaving work" by providing food and medical care in the Darfur area, and was also working closely with the U.N. on supplying humanitarian assistance.

"We deplore this brutal killing of humanitarian workers in Darfur. Our deepest sympathies are with the family and friends of our Sudanese colleagues," Ken Caldwell, director of International Operations for Save the Children, said in the statement.

In addition to the latest killings, just two months ago, two employees of Save the Children were killed by a land mine in North Darfur.

Caldwell added, "This second fatal incident suffered by Save the Children in the past few months clearly shows the dangerous environment in which humanitarian organisations are working in this conflict."

International aid agencies are feeding and sheltering nearly 2 million people who have fled from the violence caused by the conflict between the two main rebel groups fighting against government troops in Darfur.

The situation in the war-torn country has deteriorated greatly over the past year, and this has led some leading political and aid figures to describe the state of affairs as "the world's worst humanitarian crisis."

Talks were held earlier this year in attempts to end the crisis and to bring peace to the region. For the first time, the Sudanese government and rebel negotiators met in Abuja, Nigeria; a meeting which was mediated by the African Union. However, the rebels later announced a boycott of the talks and alleged a government offensive saying that they will not negotiate any further until the government vows to stop its attacks.

Previous pledges to end hostilities and allow humanitarian access to the displaced have been violated, and according to the African Union, there have been 13 violations of a cease-fire agreements in September and 54 between October and mid-December.




Jenny Lee
Ecumenical Press