A United Nations official said that 16 people had been killed in a string of incidents in Darfur that closed a road vital for delivering humanitarian aid.
A spokesman for UN special envoy Jan Pronk said a group of government troops and civilians on November 9 went to the Bulbul area of South Darfur state where a government vehicle was ambushed the previous day and a doctor killed.
"In an apparent act of revenge, the military and civilians killed eight bandits and captured one, while another bandit managed to escape," said George Sommerwill.
Sommerwill said a series of armed clashes in a marketplace in Tawila area, North Darfur, last week resulted in the deaths of three gunmen and a woman caught in the crossfire.
"As a result, Al Fashir-Tawila-Kabkabiya road is now closed to UN movement, affecting humanitarian assistance to approximately 140,000 conflict-affected people," he warned.
Sommerwill also said that armed men on camel and horseback, wearing camouflage uniforms, attacked Kalakiti village in South Darfur on November 12.
"As a result of the subsequent gunbattle, three people were killed and two others seriously injured and 20 were scattered. It is not known where they went," he said.
Meanwhile, British aid agency Oxfam said security in Darfur is worsening, with banditry rife, putting 200,000 people at risk from lack of food and water.
"There has been lots of talk over the last year, and commitments from all sides to end abuses, but security in Darfur has not improved. In fact, in the last two months it has started to deteriorate," Oxfam regional director Caroline Nursey said.
"Without road access, one of our drilling rigs is not able to reach Keb-kabiya, where we urgently need to start drilling for drinking water. The dry season is starting to close in on us, and water supplies are becoming scarce for the thousands of refugees camped in the town," she said in a statement.
