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Concern over fresh Darfur fighting

06:03, 1969-Dec-31 .. 0 comments .. Link

Concern over fresh Darfur fighting Concern over fresh Darfur fighting Hundreds of civilians are feared dead in the fighting,Carbon fiber hood, a UN source told the Reuters news agency on Monday.

"We think that we have a mounting number of casualties ... The lower estimate is around 140, the higher estimate is closer to 400," said the source of civilian deaths.

in depth Timeline: ICC and Sudan Timeline: Darfur crisis Profile: Omar al-Bashir Riz Khan: Ignoring Sudan? Riz Khan: Sudan's interlocking crises Inside Story: Sliding back into civil war The role of the ICC Drought and conflict in South Sudan Who are Sudan's Jem rebels?

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source said as many asplastic fruit40,000 civilians had fled the fighting, most recently around the market town of Deribat.

"For us the important thing now is to get access to the area," #xsaid the source, who said aid workers and UN agencies had been blocked from entering Jabel Marra by the ongoing fighting and the threat of bandit attacks on their staff.

SLA field commander Suleiman Marajan told Reuters that government bombing raids had killed at least 170 civilians around Deribat over the past 10 days and more had died in other areas.

But a Sudan army spokesman denied any fighting in the mountainous Jabel Marra region and accused rebels of attacking local residents.

"There are no clashes between the Sudanese army and the forces of Abdel Wahid's movement," #xhe told Reuters.

The reported clashes throughout last week have marred Khartoum's announcement of an end to war in the region and comes just over a month before national elections.

Omar Hassan al-Bashir, Sudan's president, declared the seven-year war in Darfur over last Wednesday after signing an initial deal with the Justice and Equality Movement (Jem), plastic fruitDarfur's main rebel force.

The deal signed in Qatari capital Doha on February 23 commits Khartoum to reaching a final peace deal with Jem by March 15.