U.N. says 30,000 displaced by South Darfur fighting

[David]

KHARTOUM (Reuters) – At least 30,000 people have fled their homes in South Darfur state in western Sudan in recent days because of fighting between rebels and government forces, the United Nations said in a statement received on Friday.

The office of the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Sudan said the people were from the Muhajiriya and Shearia areas. The Sudanese army said on Wednesday it had captured Muhajiriya town from rebels of the Justice and Equality Movement.

In three weeks of clashes around Muhajiriya, 80 km (50 miles) from the South Darfur capital of Nyala, at least 30 people were killed, U.N. officials have said.

The statement said U.N. agencies and relief organizations were trying to reach Muhajiriya and nearby villages on the way to Shearia with supplies of food, medicines and blankets for the displaced people.

"As each day passes, people's need for assistance increases and the humanitarian imperative to reach them becomes more pressing," U.N. coordinator Toby Lanzer said in the statement.

International experts say that in six years of conflict in Darfur 2.7 million people have been driven from their homes. Many of them are living in makeshift camps on the edge of towns.