The downside of peace

last updated 8 January 2015

Darfur, Sudan

The peace accord between the government and the rebels in the south of Sudan has freed up government troops to attack in the west, the U.N. said this week. The north-south civil war, which raged for 21 years, officially ended last week. The conflict in Darfur, in the west of the country, has been going on for only two years, but it has already claimed 70,000 lives and displaced 2 million. Col. Omar Adam, head of the Darfur rebel group known as the Justice and Equality Movement, said the government had already begun moving troops from the south to the west. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan called the arms buildup in Darfur alarming. The U.N. Security Council has passed two resolutions threatening sanctions against Sudan if the violence in Darfur does not end, but it has not imposed a deadline.