Fighting in Sudan Kills 17

Fighting near a village in Sudan’s crisis-plagued Darfur region killed at least 17 people Monday, while helicopters rescued dozens of aid workers who had fled into the bush.

State Minister Ahmed Haroun said rebels attacked the town of Tawila early Monday, killing 17 people and destroying the town’s hospital. He said it was unclear how many people were injured. A statement by an aid organization said government planes also dropped bombs on the town.

Haroun, however, denied that the government had violated a cease-fire with the rebels.

“These areas are under our control. Those who talk of violations are making unsubstantiated accusations,” he said.

African Union peacekeepers airlifted 45 people who had spent several hours hiding in the bush outside Tawila during clashes between rebels and pro-government Sudanese Arab militiamen, U.N. spokesman George Somerwill said.

Kate Haiff, Sudan country director for Save the Children UK, said more than 30 Sudanese workers for her organization and some other people were evacuated to the major city of Fasher.

Somerwill said no humanitarian aid was reaching thousands of people displaced by violence in Tawila.

A tribal dispute over livestock sparked the clashes Sunday, which escalated into rebel forces attacking the government-allied Arab militiamen, Somerwill said.

A Save the Children statement said a Sudanese government plane dropped several bombs on Tawila, with one landing 50 yards from one of the organization’s feeding centers.

Somerwill said African Union forces confirmed that Sudanese “air assets were used, but we can’t confirm there was hostile action.”

If the reports are correct, they represent an apparent breach of Nov. 9 accords between rebels and the government, which included an agreement to create “no-fly zones” over Darfur. Rebels and African Union mediators had demanded the zones after widespread accusations of government bombings of villages.