EU to provide €100m aid for Darfur

The European Union is to provide up to €100 million to back African peacekeepers in Darfur.

The European Union is to provide up to €100 million to back African peacekeepers in Darfur.

The United Nations  warned yesterday that crucial relief convoys are in danger.

Gunmen in Darfur are attacking relief convoys, civilians and African villagers, the UN's World Food Program said in a statement Friday. "The security situation in all three states of Darfur remains highly volatile, with road closures because of insecurity cutting into WFP's ability to provide food," it said.

The UN food agency warned that, "if insecurity persists or worsens, WFP may not be able to feed as many people as it hoped to reach in October."

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It said violence has forced it and partner organisations to delay food deliveries to some areas and completely stop them to others, pending UN security assessments.

"We fear that if the situation is not stabilized soon in Darfur, we could see tens of thousands more refugees cross the border into Chad, where resources are already stretched to the breaking point," said UN refugee agency spokesman Rupert Colville.

Nonetheless, the agency said, it delivered 12,196 tons of food, enough to feed some 632,000 people since the beginning of October.

Some 1.2 million people in Darfur rely on food from the UN agency.

AP