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Darfur Town Laid to Waste

Village is razed in apparent payback for strike against AU base

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Oct 7, 2007 7:13 PM CDT
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(Newser) – Only a school and mosque were left standing in a Darfur town after attackers recently torched and looted it, leaving 7,000 villagers homeless, the BBC reports. Rebels blame the government for the strike, saying it was payback for last week's bloody raid on an African Union base. The UN reports that only a few ex-residents were seen returning to the town, called Haskanita, looking for food and water.
 

A UN commander blamed last month's base attack, which left 10 peacekeepers dead, on a rebel faction that "broke away from a faction called SLA United." At least a dozen such groups threaten Darfur's residents, who are protected by only 7,000 AU troops. That force will be joined by 21,000 more next year to comprise the world's largest peacekeeping army.

In this photo made available Monday Oct. 1, 2007, by African Mission in Sudan, an African Union (AMIS) soldier holds an African Union flag as he stands at the damaged Haskanita military camp, in Haskanita, Darfur, Sudan, after a rebel force attack Sunday Sept. 30, 2007. The camp came under...
In this photo made available Monday Oct. 1, 2007, by African Mission in Sudan, an African Union (AMIS) soldier holds an African Union flag as he stands at the damaged Haskanita military camp, in Haskanita,...   (Associated Press)
In this photo made available Monday Oct. 1, 2007, by African Mission in Sudan, a seriously injured African Union (AMIS) soldier is carried from Haskanita military camp, in Haskanita, Darfur, Sudan, to a waiting helicopter Sunday Sept. 30, 2007, to be evacuated for medical treatment. The camp came under sustained...
In this photo made available Monday Oct. 1, 2007, by African Mission in Sudan, a seriously injured African Union (AMIS) soldier is carried from Haskanita military camp, in Haskanita, Darfur, Sudan,...   (Associated Press)
In this photo made available Monday Oct. 1, 2007, by African Mission in Sudan, showing seriously injured African Union (AMIS) soldiers being helped from Haskanita military camp, in Haskanita, Darfur, Sudan, to a waiting helicopter Sunday Sept. 30, 2007, to be evacuated for medical treatment. The camp came under sustained...
In this photo made available Monday Oct. 1, 2007, by African Mission in Sudan, showing seriously injured African Union (AMIS) soldiers being helped from Haskanita military camp, in Haskanita, Darfur,...   (Associated Press)
In this photo made available Monday Oct. 1, 2007, by African Mission in Sudan, a seriously injured African Union (AMIS) soldier is carried from Haskanita military camp, in Haskanita, Darfur, Sudan, to a waiting helicopter Sunday Sept. 30, 2007, to be evacuated for medical treatment. The camp came under sustained...
In this photo made available Monday Oct. 1, 2007, by African Mission in Sudan, a seriously injured African Union (AMIS) soldier is carried from Haskanita military camp, in Haskanita, Darfur, Sudan,...   (Associated Press)
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Rebels: Government razed town
Reuters

AU attack raises questions
YubaNet

'Elders' condemn West's Darfur response
Christian Science Monitor

 
United Nations • Darfur • Sudan • Crisis in Darfur • African Union

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