A commercial truck hired by Medair has been attacked by armed men in West Darfur. The vehicle was carrying essential medical supplies for displaced people in the region. No Medair staff were involved, although a number of passengers travelling with the truck are reported killed.
In an incident that has been widely reported, a commercial truck travelling in West Darfur, Sudan was attacked by unknown armed men on horseback on Saturday 9th December. During the attack, which occurred near the village of Sirba, around 40km north of the state capital El Geneina, the vehicle was shot at and subsequently caught fire.
The truck was under hire by Medair, an international humanitarian organisation, to transport life-saving medical supplies to clinics in the region around Sirba. These essential supplies have been lost, but no Medair staff were travelling with the vehicle, and hence no Medair contracted personnel were directly involved in the incident.
However, it has been reported by both the African Union and the United Nations that around 30 civilians, travelling with the truck, were killed during the attack.
"Medair has worked in and around Sirba since 2001", stated John Farmer, Medair's Operations Director, "and it is well accepted by communities in the area. Although we do not know who carried out this attack, any attack on unarmed civilians and essential humanitarian supplies is unacceptable. Unfortunately, this incident yet again highlights the growing insecurity in Darfur."
For more details, please contact:
Ina Hogendoorn
Sudan (Northern States), Desk Officer (English, Dutch)
Phone: +41 (0)21 694 3535
ina.hogendoorn(at)medair.org
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Medair is an international non-governmental organization (NGO), based in Switzerland. It has worked in Sudan since 1995, and in West Darfur since 2001, where Medair currently provides access to primary health-care, water and sanitation for up to 200,000 conflict-affected persons. These activities are carried out in collaboration with the Humanitarian Aid Commission, UN agencies, and other NGOs and receive financial support from the United Nations Common Humanitarian Fund, the governments of the United Kingdom (DfID), Switzerland (SDC) and the USA (OFDA) and the Inter-Church Organisation for Development Cooperation (ICCO.)
Elsewhere in Sudan, Medair works with war-displaced people in Khartoum; and supports access to primary health-care, safe water and sanitation in the Nuba Mountains area of South Kordofan. In Southern Sudan, Medair provides emergency medical and water assistance, primarily in Upper Nile.
Medair's life-saving activities are dependent upon private financial support. To contribute to this work, please visit www.medair.org (Sudan section.)
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
