On September 28, 250 to 300 Janjaweed horsemen attacked the Aro Sharrow refugee camp and the neighboring village of Gosmeina, killing 34 men and burning 80 shelters housing between 4,000 to 5,000 people. The UN has since called for increased security within Sudanese borders and aid agencies have temporarily suspended operations, reported UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Jan Egeland according to IRIN news.
Antonio Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), stated, "As long as this insecurity continues, the international community cannot provide the assistance that is so desperately needed by hundreds of thousands of people," reported IRIN news. The UNHCR worries that the attacks will cause the refugees to flee to Chad, whose displaced persons currently number around 200,000.
