Sudan Air Force bombs village in Darfur, African Union says

CAIRO -- The Sudanese Air Force bombed villagers in South Darfur yesterday, observers from the African Union reported, and an international aid organization said casualties were inflicted.

''It is a major cease-fire violation," said the senior AU political officer for Sudan, Jean Baptiste Natama.

Darfur rebels have often accused the government of using its air force against civilians, and Khartoum has usually denied such charges. Aerial bombardments are rarely confirmed by the AU, which has about 1,400 cease-fire monitors and protection troops in the western Sudan region.

Sudanese government officials could not be reached for comment late yesterday.

An air force Antonov jet dropped bombs outside the town of Shangil Tobaya, about 40 miles south of El Fasher, at about 3 p.m., the Khartoum-based official of a nongovernmental organization said by phone. The official spoke on condition of anonymity and asked that his organization not be named for fear of retribution.

Field workers of the same organization in Shangil Tobaya saw bombs exploding on the ground and saw the Antonov circling overhead, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Natama said he intended to report the bombardment to the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa as well as the African Union meeting of foreign ministers, which is due to convene today and tomorrow in Abuja, Nigeria.

The nongovernmental official said his field workers reported about 25 people took refuge in Shangil Tobaya before and after the bombardment as they were fleeing fighting outside the town. Some of them were ''war wounded," the official said. He did not have figures for the casualties.

The official said locals reported that Sudan Liberation Army rebels have been fighting progovernment militiamen, known as the Janjaweed, and regular Sudanese troops in the area around Shangil Tobaya for two weeks.

The field workers had heard what sounded like an aerial bombardment, but yesterday was the first time they saw one.

The parties to the conflict signed a cease-fire in April 2004 and a similar commitment in November, but the agreement has been broken many times.

The Darfur conflict, which the United Nations describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis, began in February 2003. An estimated 1.8 million people have been displaced in the conflict.