Sudan: A quarter of a million children and their parents were left without emergency aid in Darfur yesterday after a British relief agency announced the region was too dangerous for its staff.
Save the Children took the decision following the deaths of four of its workers in recent months.
The move edges Darfur ever closer to the abyss. As faltering peace talks finally ground to a halt yesterday, observers said violence in Sudan's western region was escalating.
Hundreds of thousands of people fleeing the violence of armed militias remain in camps beyond the reach of aid agencies. Thousands more arrive each day seeking shelter.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed, and some 1.8 million have been forced to flee in almost two years of fighting between rebels, government forces and Arab militias known as Janjaweed.
In a statement Mr Mike Aaronson, director general of Save the Children UK, said the 350 staff members would return as soon as security improved. "We are devastated that we are unable to continue to offer healthcare, nutritional support, child protection and education to the approximately 250,000 children and family members served by our current programmes in north and south Darfur," he said.
"However, we just cannot continue to expose our staff to the unacceptable risks they face as they go about their humanitarian duties in Darfur."
Two Save the Children staff members were shot dead on December 12th, in an attack blamed on rebels. They were travelling in a clearly marked aid convoy, according to the charity.
Two others were killed in October when their vehicle hit a landmine.
Mr Aaronson later told the BBC World Service that both sides were ignoring a ceasefire, and that neither government troops nor rebels could guarantee the safety of his staff.
"There's a general breakdown in law and order, and I think the political leaders of the different factions don't actually control the men with guns, who are making it very difficult."
The 22-month uprising has been marked by periods of violence interspersed with lulls.
However, the pattern has been broken in the past few months, with tensions escalating throughout the region as both sides ignore a ceasefire agreed in April.
The weekend was marked by particularly heavy fighting around the town of Labado, in western Darfur.
African Union observers said government helicopters were attacking civilian targets. However, the government said it was fighting off a rebel offensive.
In southern Darfur, the African Union was forced to end flights when one of its helicopters came under attack.
Mr Adrian McIntyre, a spokesman for Oxfam in Khartoum, said increasing instability - particularly in southern Darfur - was affecting its relief operations.
"There's no definitive evidence that aid workers are being singled out for attacks in Darfur, but the real problem is that travelling in clearly marked humanitarian vehicles offers little protection from the violence and banditry," he said.
The two main rebel groups, the Justice and Equality Movement and the Sudan Liberation Army, walked out of the Abuja peace talks last week. They accused the government of launching fresh attacks.
However, talks finally resumed and then closed yesterday after Mr Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigerian President and chairman of the African Union, met rebels and government representatives.
They are due to start up again in January and, in the meantime, both sides have apparently agreed to withdraw troops to positions held in April, when the truce was signed.