Rebels from Sudan's western Darfur have kidnapped 22 volunteers who were vaccinating an estimated two million people affected by fighting in the remote region.
The head of Sudan's vaccination programme and emergency operations office said rebels from the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) abducted the volunteers on Sunday.
Sudan said yesterday rebels had kidnapped eight World Food Programme (WFP) and Sudanese Red crescent workers in Northern Darfur state. The WFP confirmed those workers were missing and set up a crisis centre to try to find them.
The UN said today that conditions for 1.2 million Sudanese displaced in Darfur continue to worsen amid violent attacks, spreading disease, and heavy rains which wreak havoc with aid convoys.
The reports came a day after the expiry of a deadline set by the UN Security Council for Sudan to prove it can protect the people of the western region or face possible sanctions.
Up to 50,000 people have died since conflict intensified in the region in February 2003. More than one million Darfuris have fled their homes for fear of attack by Arab Janjaweed militia, whom rebels and human rights groups say have been mobilised by Khartoum to carry out a bloody campaign of ethnic cleansing.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has reported a near doubling in hepatitis cases in Darfur in the past month due to insufficient clean water and poor sanitary conditions. The toll now stands at 2,432 cases and 41 deaths since late May.
Another 959 cases and 30 deaths among the 200,000 Darfuris who have fled to eastern Chad have also been linked to hepatitis, a viral liver infection, the UN agency added.
Maternal mortality rates in Darfur are "extremely high", with 600 deaths per 100,000 women, according to the agency.
An air drop begun on August 1st has brought two months' worth of food to 72,000 people in West Darfur, according to WFP. The second phase now under way aims to feed 140,000 more people at Geneina and nearby camps, and at 10 sites inaccessible by road.