August 1,
2008: Severe food shortages in the north
are more due to bad weather than banditry. It's the various rebel groups, and many
freelance bandits, that are making the roads along the Sudan border unsafe, and
threaten food availability all along the border (where there is generally no
famine). The 3,000 European peacekeepers lack the airpower (reconnaissance UAVs
and helicopters for quickly moving troops to where there is trouble) to be very
effective. The border area comprises over 300,000 kilometers, and troops
operating only on the roads cannot cover much ground. The peacekeepers are to be withdrawn next
March, and there are already discussions to extend that six months. But without
a lot more helicopters and UAVs, which no one is offering to provide, the
peacekeepers are not having much impact.
July 26,
2008: Near the Sudan border, a Red Cross
employee was shot by bandits. The foreign aid groups are preparing to abandon
the area, because of the personal danger.
July 24,
2008: An American Christian missionary,
held prisoner by MDJT rebels in the north for nine months, was released. The American
was grabbed, while helping villagers drill a well, because the rebels believed
he was a government spy. The rebels eventually figured out that was not the
case, but things move slowly in this part of the world, and it took a long time
to arrange a release.
