Over the past year, the price of petrol in Sudan has risen by 132%, the steepest increase on the continent. Although economic factors play a role, the country’s generals also have a lot to answer for.
African Union (AU) peacekeepers are outgunned and outnumbered by rebels and militias in Darfur, the AU force commander Martin Luther Agwai said on Tuesday. He said this was one reason an AU base in Haskanita, south-east Darfur, was overwhelmed so quickly during a recent attack on the peacekeepers.
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/ 1 November 2006
More used to the sound of gunfire, the residents of Darfur’s main town el-Fasher tapped their feet to a rare beat as musicians from all over Sudan performed in a festival for reconciliation. For 10 days, puppet shows for children, street theatre and concerts provided welcome distraction for Darfuris who have been terrorised by rebels, the government and militias.
Ahmed Idris’s wife is preparing the family’s only meal of the day and there is not enough for their 11 children running around their two little shelters in the middle of the Zamzam refugee camp in Sudan’s Darfur region. The children, some of them with distended bellies, appear malnourished, although their mother says the quantity of the food rations they get has increased considerably in recent months.
Nigerian troops set off for Darfur