In service of the jihad. From Reuters, with thanks to Teri:
ABECHE, Chad, Aug 2 (Reuters) – Statements from hundreds of Sudanese refugees indicate that militias and official Sudanese forces cooperated closely in violence in the Darfur region targeting African villagers, researchers said on Monday.
The preliminary findings come from a survey of Darfuris who have fled to neighbouring Chad, carried out by the U.S.-based Coalition for International Justice. It has spoken to some 600 refugees in recent weeks and plans to have interviewed 1,200 by mid-August.
The non-governmental group is feeding its research back to the U.S. State Department and says it aims to provide a comprehensive and systematic study of the conflict in Darfur, which has driven more than a million people from their homes….
“There certainly are patterns that are emerging and one of them has been the close coordination between government of Sudan forces and the Janjaweed (militias) in the attacks — (an) extraordinarily high percentage,” Frease said.
INDISCRIMINATE ATTACKS
She also said it seemed clear that civilians had been targeted in attacks on villages and that black African tribes had been singled out for attack by the militias, drawn from the nomadic Arab population.
“It does appear that ethnic groups are being targeted and there’s a sort of indiscriminate nature to the attacks … on villages,” she said. “I don’t want to draw any conclusions but … we’re finding a lot of elements that indicate that a specific ethnic group is being targeted.”
Sudan’s government has denied it controls the Janjaweed and has branded them outlaws.