A joint United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force was deployed to Sudan's Darfur region in January of 2008. The Sudanese government's insistence that the international community is overstating the severity of the conflict and hesitance to allow non-African troops into the area has impeded the mission's progress.
Quotes Associated Press: [http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iiP4wkHSaahk_oQkZbcLsX8_Ej7AD914AME00 UN Security Council gets firsthand look at Darfur] (June 6, 2008)
"This vicious campaign has targeted the policies and positions of my country. It has strived to exaggerate and distort facts."—Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir
"We've been able to deliver only half as much food as we need into our warehouses in Darfur due to banditry against truckers."—Emilia Casella of the U.N. World Food Program
"We need the numbers to provide the security, to make the roads safe, to help the humanitarians do their job, even though there is no peace deal at this time."—Nigerian General Martin Agwai
References
Fast Facts
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The full peacekeeping force consists of 26,000 troops
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Over 200,000 people have died in Darfur since 2003
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Over 2.5 million Sudanese citizens have been displaced from Darfur
