KHARTOUM, Sudan, Jan. 17 (UPI) -- Mounting violence in Sudan's war-torn Darfur region threatens to permanently disrupt the fragile humanitarian lifeline ensuring the survival of millions of people.
Thirteen U.N. bodies involved in the operation issued the warning Wednesday following recent repeated military attacks, arbitrary bombing of villages and the targeting of aid workers, noting that relief access in December was the worst in nearly three years.
"If this situation continues, the humanitarian operation and welfare of the population it aims to support will be irreversibly jeopardized," said the joint statement issued through UNICEF in Khartoum, Sudan.
It called for protection of civilians and humanitarian workers and an end to impunity for perpetrators of human rights abuses.
"If not, the U.N. humanitarian agencies and non-governmental organizations will not be able to hold the fragile line that to date has provided relief and a measure of protection to some 4 million people in Darfur affected by this tragic conflict," it said.
The agencies said over the last two years humanitarian agencies saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians caught up in the conflict, in which nearly four years of fighting between government forces, allied militias and rebel groups seeking greater autonomy have killed at least 200,000 people and displaced more than 2 million others.
Mortality rates have been brought below emergency levels, malnutrition halved from the height of the crisis in mid-2004 and nearly three-quarters of all Darfurians now have access to safe drinking water. In 2006 alone, 400,000 metric tons of food were delivered.
