Landmine kills Darfur aid workers

Some 1.4 million people have been displaced in the conflict

Two aid workers have been killed in Sudan's Darfur region after their vehicle hit a landmine.

The two, one British, the other from Sudan, were working for the UK's Save the Children agency, when they died in rebel-held territory near Ummbaru.

This is reported to be the first death of a western aid worker in the 20-month conflict, which has pitted black Africans against Arab militias.

An estimated 50,000 people have died in what some say is a genocide.

Some 1.4 million have also been made homeless as a result of attacks by pro-government Arab Janjaweed militias.

The Janjaweed are accused of killing thousands of black African civilians and emptying villages as part of a campaign against rebels in Darfur.

Walked for help

Those killed in Sunday's explosion have been named as Rafe Bullick, 34, the agency's North Darfur Programme Manager from the UK and Nourredine Issa Tayeb, 41, a Sudanese water engineer, married with five children.

Save the Children says that the area where they were working was virtually inaccessible to the outside world until three weeks ago.

"The victims of the blast were humanitarians, whose presence in Darfur was motivated by the wish to assist people affected by the conflict," said Jan Pronk, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's special representative to Sudan.

He said that both the Sudanese army and the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) had been notified of the trip.

"No words are sufficient to describe the loss of two valued colleagues whose work and efforts in North Darfur brought much to many children and their families caught up in this crisis," said Save the Children director general Mike Aaronson.

"At this time our thoughts go out to the families of our colleagues."

"Another Sudanese worker was injured in the incident and walked several miles to the nearest town to get help. The two others died in the vehicle," said a Save the Children spokeswoman.

There are some 700 international aid workers in Darfur, along with thousands of Sudanese.

Violence continues

Mr Pronk last week told the UN's Security Council that Sudan's government has failed to keep its promise to end violence in Darfur over the past month.

He said attacks on civilians continued and that both pro-government forces and rebel groups had broken a truce.

Mr Pronk said the army had continued its attacks, sometimes with helicopter gunships and neither the government nor the rebels had respected the ceasefire signed on 8 April.

Sudan has now said it will welcome more troops from the African Union.

But the UN envoy said these troops should not only monitor the ceasefire but ensure the safety of the displaced, oversee the disarming of fighters and act as a buffer between civilians and possible attackers.

Libya is planning to host a mini-summit on the Darfur crisis later in October.