Gunmen on horseback attacked a truck carrying medicine and aid in Sudan's war-ravaged Darfur region and killed around 30 civilians on board, some of whom were burned alive, the United Nations said today.
The African Union had earlier put the death toll at 22 and said 10 others were wounded on Saturday when gunmen attacked the vehicle near Sirba, 30 miles north of El Geneina, capital of West Darfur state and close to the Sudan-Chad border.
"The gunmen were riding on horseback. The exact number of civilian casualties is not yet established but it is estimated that around 30 people were killed," UN spokeswoman in Sudan Radhia Achouri said today. "Some people were shot, others were burned to death," she said.
The vehicle was carrying medicine and relief items and transporting people, Achouri added. The violence highlights the worsening situation in Darfur where experts say around 200,000 have been killed since the conflict flared in 2003 when rebels took up arms against the government, accusing it of neglect.
A May peace deal between the government and one faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) has failed to stop Darfur bloodshed. Other rebel groups have rejected the agreement.
Analysts say all sides of the conflict - rebels, government forces and Arab militias allied to the government - are engaged in fresh fighting. Some aid workers say the humanitarian situation has not been as bad since 2003.
Ms Achouri did not identify precisely who was behind Saturday's attack. Militias locally known as the Janjaweed, which the Khartoum government is accused of backing, are known to carry out some attacks in the region riding camels and horses. Khartoum denies supporting the Janjaweed, a term loosely derived from Arabic for "devils on horseback".
The African Union said it had dispatched an investigation unit to Sirba and angry villagers later tried to prevent the team from leaving.