Clashes between Sudanese army and rebel forces in Darfur are stopping aid agencies assessing the needs of some of the more than one million displaced people there, the United Nations said today.
"Due to clashes ... an inter-agency team was not able to commence assessment of villages in Tawilla rural areas," it said. The fighting was in North Darfur state, about 70 km (45 miles) west of the state capital El-Fasher.
The UN said it received similar reports of fighting in Ailliet, about 250 km (150 miles) southeast of the capital. Banditry in South Darfur state was also a problem, it said.
A UN Security Council resolution passed on Saturday threatens economic sanctions on Khartoum if it does not stop violence in Darfur, which Washington has termed genocide.
The UN says fighting has displaced 1.5 million people, with more than 200,000 refugees in neighbouring Chad, in one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
Sudan said today it was sorry the UN resolution was passed but it would fully abide by it. The resolution also calls for a commission to investigate human rights abuses and see if the US declaration of genocide in Darfur was correct.