August 15, 2006: The situation in Sudan's western Darfur region has gone from bad to worse. Renewed violence has either stymied or stopped food and relief aid deliveries to three million refugees and displaced people in the region. The May 5 peace agreement (Darfur Peace Agreement, or DPA) has not brought peace. For example, attacks on African Union (AU) peacekeepers were up 900 percent over the same period last year. Last year, attacks on AU peacekeepers occurred but were rare. Though the peace agreement was signed over three months
ago, the Sudanese government has yet to produce a plan to disarm the pro-government militias in the region. In terms of the number of aid workers killed, July 2006 was in deed the worst month since the Darfur tragedy began in early 2003. Eight aid workers were killed. The UN estimates that there are 14,000 aid workers in the Darfur region.
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