Peace is hard. War, thats easy

In the past four weeks, the conflict in the three States that make up Darfur is taken on a different charateristic. It is now composed of more overt confrontations that differ from the hit and run skirmishes we saw at the start of my stay here.

This article highlights some of the most intense fighting that is currently being staged just 40 miles southwest of Fasher. I am currently in Nyala. I had been scheduled to travel to Fasher today but my office failed to book a place aboard the UN WFP planes that service Sudan's war affected cities.

Read the article for more info:

Darfur villages, clinic destroyed in fighting: rebels

KHARTOUM (AFP) — Rebel fighters accused government forces on Sunday of burning three villages and destroying a health clinic in north Darfur during heavy clashes involving more than 100 vehicles.

Rebels said fierce fighting erupted on Friday southwest of El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, the latest in a series of battles in Sudan's war-torn western region.

"The fighting was very heavy, with government soldiers and militia attacking," said Abu Bakr Kadu, a senior commander with the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA)-Unity faction.

"There was fighting late on Saturday, but we are behind them and shooting now," Kadu said, speaking by satellite telephone from near to the battlefield.

"There was very bad damage to the villages in the bombing, and in Khazan Tungur village the hospital was destroyed."

Kadu said the centre was run by Partner Aid International (PAI), a European aid agency, which opened a health clinic in the village earlier this year.

PAI could not be reached to confirm the attack, but other rebels gave similar accounts.

"They have been bombing with Antonov aeroplanes, then moving quickly into the areas," said Ibrahim al-Hillo, a commander from the SLA faction led by Paris-based exile Abdel Wahid Mohammed Nur.

"There are also Janjaweed militia but they are travelling with the government soldiers in their vehicles," Hillo added, speaking from north Darfur.

He said the government troops had burnt the villages of Khazan Tungur, Tarny and Hijaj, all approximately 60 kilometres (40 miles) southwest of El-Fasher.

Rebels said the government force totalled more than 100 vehicles packed with soldiers, but the numbers could not be independently verified.

"There are civilians killed and injured, but many ran away when the fighting started," Hillo said.

"The fighting has destroyed their villages, they are all burnt along with the small hospital in Khazan Tungur."

Peacekeepers confirmed there had been fighting between government and rebel forces, in which aircraft were involved.

"The reports that we have indicate there has been heavy fighting," said Kemal Saiki, a spokesman for the joint UN-African Union mission in Darfur (UNAMID).

"We do not have exact details. But with reports of more than 100 vehicles with troops, this is not just a skirmish."

UNAMID was working to establish details of casualties, exact troop numbers and a time-line of events, he added.

There was no immediate response from the military. However, an army spokesman on Saturday said that the only military action under way was against bandits responsible for a spate of attacks on aid convoys.

The new violence comes amid mounting pressure on Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir as he seeks to head off potential charges from the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and genocide in Darfur.

According to the United Nations, up to 300,000 people have died and more than 2.2 million fled their homes since rebels rose up against Khartoum in February 2003. Sudan says 10,000 people have been killed.