KHARTOUM (AFP) — UN-led peacekeepers have mounted permanent patrols inside a volatile camp for displaced people in Sudan's Darfur amid fears of another raid by government troops, the force said on Wednesday.
The move comes after a Sudanese government incursion into the impoverished Kalma camp in south Darfur on August 25 left more than 30 people dead.
Fears remain high of further clashes, with government forces gathering around the camp, according to a statement by the joint African Union-United Nations peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID).
"UNAMID has decided to deploy, on a permanent basis, a joint force of the UNAMID military and police," the statement read.
Patrols have noticed "an increased presence" of police at a new location five kilometres (three miles) from the camp, the statement added.
One sheikh in the camp told peacekeepers on Monday that "tension and panic were mounting" among residents, claiming that Sudanese forces were planning another attack on Kalma "in the near future."
Government security officials say that armed robbers and rebel groups are hiding in the tightly packed camp, hoarding weapons, explosives, narcotics and stolen goods.
Conditions for the estimated 80,000 residents of the camp are miserable, with a lack of medicine and several homes washed away by heavy rains, aid workers say.
UNAMID expressed "grave concern" at last month's raid, and accused government troops of an "excessive use of force." It said the dead included women and children.
The UN says up to 300,000 people have died and more than 2.2 million fled their homes since war in Darfur erupted in February 2003. Sudan says 10,000 have been killed.
The conflict began when ethnic minority rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated Khartoum regime and state-backed Arab militias, fighting for resources and power.
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