Sudanese government bombs have hit a primary school and a busy market place in Darfur, killing at least 13 people, including seven children, two aid organisations said on Monday.
The Sudanese army was not immediately available to comment but has repeatedly denied bombing in the area, which would be a violation of a United Nations Security Council resolution banning all offensive flying.
The aid groups said a government Antonov plane bombed the village of Shegeg Karo in North Darfur on Sunday. If confirmed, it would be the deadliest bombing raid in Darfur in years.
”According to information gathered by the villagers of Shegeg Karo, the Antonov hovered for a long time and then bombed repeatedly,” a joint statement from Darfur Diaries and the Darfur Peace and Development Organisation said.
”The Shegeg Karo school was hit and one classroom was destroyed. It was in session,” it added. The youngest child to die was five-year-old Yusuf Adam Hamid. It said two other children were seriously wounded and 30 more lightly wounded.
Both organisations fund the primary school of 238 students.
The groups said the market was also hit, with six people reported killed and 20 shops destroyed. They said it was unclear how many people were wounded at the market place. Hundreds of women usually gather there on market day.
Last week, a joint UN-African Union peacekeeping mission (Unamid) confirmed rebel reports of bombing in North Darfur in spite of government denials. The Unamid force said it was investigating the allegations of bombing at Shegeg Karo.
Darfur rebels said three other areas were bombed on Sunday. Ein Sirro and Jabel Medop in North Darfur and an area in West Darfur near rebel-held Jabel Moun. There were no reports of casualties.
International experts estimate about 200 000 people have died and 2,5-million been driven from their homes in five years of revolt in Darfur. Khartoum blames the Western media for exaggerating the conflict and puts the death toll at 10 000.
Deployment of the peacekeeping force, set to become the world’s biggest, has been slow.
A May 2006 peace deal was signed by one of three rebel negotiating factions. But little has been done to implement the deal while insecurity has worsened because of infighting between rebel factions.
Minni Arcua Minnawi, a former rebel who signed the 2006 and became a presidential assistant, said he was suspending participation in the government on Monday in protest at the lack of political will from President Omar Hassan al-Bashir’s government.
”The government is not serious and not committed to the peace deal,” said a Minnawi spokesperson, al-Tayyib Khamis.
Sudan is asking donor nations meeting in Norway this week for $6-billion over the next three years to help rebuild after decades of civil wars. A 2005 peace deal ended war between north and south, but did not cover Darfur. — Reuters