Conflict in Sudan's Darfur displaces 41,000 in two months

FIGHTING between Sudanese government forces and rebels in parts of Darfur has displaced more than 41,000 people since late December, the United Nations said Thursday.

The announcement came as UN and African Union officials held talks with Khartoum over the departure of peacekeepers from the western region.

"Aid organisations have assessed and verified the needs of 41,304 people displaced" in North Darfur state and the Jebel Marra areas, the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in its weekly bulletin.

The real number could be higher than the figures given, which were collected between the last week of December and February 15, the head of OCHA's Sudan office told AFP.

"There are several localities, basically part of the Jebel Marra massif, to which we don't have access," Ivo Freijsen said.

Unrest in Central Darfur forced 14,000 people from their homes in the same period last year, OCHA said.

Sudan's military launched an offensive in Darfur in November in a bid to defeat insurgents who have been battling the government since 2003.

Jebel Marra is a hilly area where much of the fighting has taken place.

An army spokesman denied troops carried out operations in the area recently.

The displacements could be "a result of previous fighting, more than one month ago. We ourselves never target civilians," Colonel Al-Sawarmy Khaled Saad told AFP.

Peacekeepers prepare exit

The UN-AU Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) said Thursday it held talks in Khartoum about its eventual withdrawal.

UNAMID peacekeepers deployed in 2007 to protect civilians and secure aid deliveries but relations with Khartoum have deteriorated rapidly in recent months.

Khartoum demanded it form an exit strategy from the region over its attempts to investigate reports of the alleged rape of 200 women and girls in the village of Tabit in North Darfur in October.

UN and AU officials were in Khartoum for "discussions with the Sudanese government on UNAMID's eventual exit from Darfur," a statement said.

They agreed to form a working group that "will begin its task in early March with the view to preparing the exit strategy of UNAMID".

Several thousand of those displaced by the most recent unrest have sought shelter at UNAMID's bases across Darfur, humanitarian organisations say.

The military launched its latest offensive -- dubbed "Decisive Summer 2" -- in November after the rainy season that renders roads impassable.

Khartoum's forces have also targeted insurgents in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan areas.

Ethnic insurgents in Darfur rebelled against Khartoum's Arab-dominated government in 2003, complaining of marginalisation.

Some 300,000 people have been killed in the conflict, and the region is home to more than two million internally displaced persons, the UN says.

President Omar al-Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in Darfur.

Fighting displaced 470,000 in Darfur in 2014, OCHA said, nearly a third of whom later returned to their homes.

AFP