Rebels say Sudan military blocked UNICEF aid to Darfur highlands

Nimr Abdelrahman, the military spokesman of the Sudan Liberation Movement, said that government forces prevented UNICEF and other organizations from accessing areas east of Jebel Marra affected by government operations.  International organizations claimed Monday that they had succeeded in reaching the Jebel Marra highlands where they provided drugs and food to health clinics. In a joint statement, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and World Health Organization said they worked with government partners on the mission which “brought deliveries of essential medicines and nutritional supplies.”

Nimr Abdelrahman claimed in an interview that officials of the government at the military garrison in the region of Kidinger seized property of the two aid organizations. They also prevented the aid mission from reaching Deribat.

For his part, the military spokesman Al Soarmi Khaled Saad denied the report that the army detained any property or prevented any humanitarian organization from working. He did not rule out the possibility, however, that the two aid organizations had to stop at a checkpoint to undergo procedures as required by the situation.