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/ 16 February 2008
The United Nations must deploy more troops quickly in west Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region, even without their full equipment, or risk losing Darfuris’ trust, a senior United Nations commander said on Saturday. The most important first step is to give displaced Darfuris confidence that the troops will protect them, said Balla Keita, the UN-African Union commander of West Darfur.
The African Union peacekeeping force in West Darfur told the United Nations on Wednesday that Arab militias were killing and pillaging in the region without arrests by the Sudanese authorities. Major Harry Soko, a Rwandan officer who briefed the head of the UN refugee agency, said that the presence of Sudanese rebel groups in his area had also led to conflict.