Dozens killed in attack on Darfur village - AU

KHARTOUM, Nov 13 (Reuters) Up to 30 villagers were killed and 40 wounded when armed men riding horses and camels attacked a village in the Darfur region of western Sudan, an African Union (AU) official said today.

The attackers are suspected to be janjaweed, militiamen who have killed and plundered across the arid region, helping to drive some 2 million people into camps, said the official, who asked not to be named. The AU has a peace force in Darfur.

The three-hour attack on Saturday was on Sirba, about 45 km (30 miles) north of the town of El Geneina, capital of West Darfur state and close to the Sudan-Chad border, he said.

''The attackers were on camels and horses. Reports indicate up to 30 villagers killed and 40 injured and half of the village was razed,'' the AU official said.

Bahr Idriss Abu Garda, a leader of the rebel National Redemption Front, told Reuters by telephone that the Sudanese army took part with the janjaweed in the attack on Sirba and a similar attack in the nearby Abu Surouj area.

But an army spokesperson said government forces were not involved in any operations in the Sirba area and did even have a large troop presence there.

The conflict in Darfur has intensified after a short-lived lull which followed a partial peace agreement signed by one of the rebel factions in May.

The conflict broke out in 2003 when local people, mostly non-Arabs, took up arms to fight for a greater share in power and central government resources.

The United States and United Nations have tried to persuade the Sudanese government to let a U.N. peacekeeping force deploy in the vast region but Khartoum has refused, saying that to accept foreign troops would be like a return to colonialism.

REUTERS PDM VC1935