UN: armed groups hinder aid delivery to 34,000 in South Darfur

Armed groups operating north of Nyala, capital of South Darfur, are adversely affecting the aid delivery to some 34,000 displaced people by threatening to steal fuel, ammunition, food and money from any vehicles traveling in the area. They warned that government, Unamid, UN vehicles will be targeted.According to reports received by the UN, armed groups have established two checkpoints in the area of Abu Hamra, approximately 90km north of Nyala.If the situation is not resolved the thousands of displaced people in the Mershing, Manawashi and Khor Abeche areas will not receive humanitarian assistance, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports.Abu Hamra is located on the main road from Nyala to El Fasher in North Darfur. This is also the access road leading to Khor Abeche, which is about 35km from Abu Hamra.Separately, OCHA also reports that some 30,000 people in Shangil Tobay, North Darfur, are facing water shortages due to government restrictions on the transportation of fuel from El Fasher.Quoting humanitarian actors on the ground, the UN agency says that this fuel is needed to run the motorised water distribution schemes in the area.The UN Children’s agency (Unicef) is reportedly looking into other ways of providing the affected people with water until the fuel issue can be resolved.File photo: 10 January 2011. Khor Abeche: About two thousand Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are still sheltered outside the UNAMID team site in Khor Abeche, 83 km northeast on Nyala (South Darfur) since last December due to several clashes (Albert Gonzalez Farran/Unamid) See also: Antonov’s bombs miss convoy in Darfur’s East Jebel Marra (24 October 2013)