Armed men shot dead seven people and injured 20 in clashes at a refugee camp in Sudan's Darfur region on Saturday, peacekeepers said, in a sign of mounting violence in and around the area's displacement centres. Darfur's joint UN/African Union (UNAMID) peacekeeping force said gunfire broke out at the Hamidiya camp, close to the town of Zalingei in West Darfur state, on Saturday morning.
More than seven years of fighting in the arid region has driven more than 2 million to take shelter in ramshackle camps that are dependent on aid agencies for food and water. Many camps have become highly politicised and Khartoum has accused some camp leaders of stockpiling weapons and harbouring fighters for rebel groups who took up arms against the government in 2003.