UN: Darfur sees bloodiest month in two years

Nearly 600 people died in rebel and tribal fighting in Sudan’s Darfur region in May, the bloodiest month that the territory has seen in more than two years, United Nations officials said on Monday.

The figures underlined the challenge facing mediators seven years into the conflict that has continued in the face of pressure from Washington, war-crimes prosecutions by the International Criminal Court and campaigning by activists.

“There were 491 confirmed deaths and 108 unconfirmed deaths,” said one official from Darfur’s joint UN/African Union peacekeeping force, who added it was the largest death count recorded since the force set up in January 2008.—Reuters