Although details of the raid have not been disclosed, the pattern of the attack was very similar to previous one, reports say. As the field teams of Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) made their routine trip through the western and southern parts of Darfur on their vehicles to transport relief resources to refugee camps, they encountered heavily armed men riding on horses and camels en route and were chased away, according to Reuter’s report.
"We are extremely thankful to know that our colleagues are safe and well. But the growing trend of ambush, both of clearly marked aid vehicles and hired trucks, is frightening," Relief Program Director Bjorg Mide told Reuters. The NCA relief program is a joint effort between NCA, the global alliance Action by Churches Together (ACT), and the Catholic confederation Caritas Internationalis.
In a matter of weeks, NCA vehicles have been raided at gunpoint by bandits twice, Reuters reported.
"It is hard to know the real motivation behind these raids,” Mide continued, “but we are sure that the two attacks to which we have been subjected over the last few weeks were nothing more than pure banditry."
However, some said the raid was one incident among a series of attacks launched by both the Southern Sudanese rebels and pro-government militia Janjaweed in the last few days. The latest clashes in Darfur were triggered by the peace talks held in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.
Many aid agencies and humanitarian convoys have also been targeted, according to BBC news.
And the attacks on aid agencies have not only threatened the lives of relief workers, but they have also affected the effectiveness of the aid delivery to the hands of the needy in the war-torn Darfur region.
"Hundreds of thousands of people rely entirely on the life-saving services we provide in Darfur. We provide these people with services that they actually have a right to receive - but we need relatively secure conditions to be able to deliver," Mide explained to Reuters.
For two decades, Darfur has suffered from a civil war that has displaced more than 2 million people and claimed 1.5 million lives. According to the United Nations, around 200,000 people from Darfur have crossed the border to Chad where they are currently living in refugee camps.
"The people I have spoken to repeat one point over and over again: security - they need security before they can go home! Darfur is simply not safe enough for them to do this as the situation stands. Now they have missed yet another harvest, and this means that they will be dependent upon our assistance for at least one more full year," Mide was quoted by Reuters as saying.
The news agency reports that the NCA has been engaged in active dialogue with the peacemaking body African Union (AU) and UN organizations on the subject of protection for the internally displaced people.
"We can see that the presence of the AU in Labado has had a positive effect on what was initially an extremely tense security situation. But there are still too few AU soldiers stationed, the logistics are poor, there are too few resources available," Mide said.
Since 2004, the NCA and other international aid organizations have launched massive relief efforts in Darfur. It is the biggest cooperation between church-based organizations ever. NCA, ACT/Caritas deliver relief and assistance in 35 locations across Darfur. Across the border in Chad, NCA operates 3 different refugee camps to prepare the people to return home.
On Tuesday, the formation of Sudan's first national unity government was announced as the result of the talk started on Sept. 15. However, the security situation is still very delicate as the rebels were alleged to initiate attacks on government-controlled towns, according to AFP.
Mide told Reuters he believed that the security situation would deteriorate over the coming weeks and months.
Eunice Or
Christian Today Correspondant