The tragedy of Darfur: ethnic conflict in Sudan has killed 200,000 civilians and created 2 million refugees.

When his family's village in Darfur was attacked by janjaweed militias, Idris Ishmael managed to run away. But his wife, Halima, was eight months pregnant and could only hobble. So she stayed in the village, along with the couple's four children, ages 3 to 12. "The janjaweed will rape and kill my family," the 32-yearold man said. "And there's nothing I can do."

In the last three years, more than 200,000 civilians have been killed in Darfur, a region of western Sudan about the size of Texas. In addition, about 2 million people--a third of Darfur's 6 million inhabitants--have been displaced, mostly to neighboring Chad. President Bush is among many in the international community who have denounced the violence in Darfur as genocide.

These people are victims of a conflict that pits Arab Africans against black Africans. (Both groups are Muslim.) The trouble began in 2003 when a rebel movement began demanding greater political and economic rights for black Darfurians from the Arab-dominated Sudanese government. The government responded by giving free rein to the janjaweed, Arab militias on horses and camels that began attacking black villages, killing and raping the residents.

Now the chaos is spreading west into Chad. Arab gunmen from Darfur have pushed across the desert into Chad, stealing cattle, burning crops, and killing anyone who resists. At least 20,000 Chadians have been driven from their homes, making them refugees in their own country.

"You may have thought the terrible situation in Darfur couldn't get worse, but it has," says Peter Takirambudde of the Africa division of Human Rights Watch. "Sudan's policy of arming militias and letting them loose is spilling over the border, and civilians have no protection from their attacks, in Darfur or in Chad."

A GROWING CONFLICT

Now, hundreds of thousands of people in eastern Chad, along with the 200,000 Sudanese who have fled there for safety, find themselves caught up in a growing conflict between Chad and Sudan, which have a history of violence and meddling in each other's affairs.

Two years ago, the Sudanese government responded to international pressure over Darfur by sending police units to the region to stop janjaweed attacks on civilians. But they haven't stopped the attacks, and they now admit that nobody controls large stretches of Darfur's countryside.

In many cases, the police have joined with the janjaweed, turning a blind eye to their attacks or even joining in. The police apparently regard the black victims as rebel sympathizers who are unworthy of government protection.

An African Union force in Darfur, made up of nearly 7,000 soldiers and police officers from across the continent, is meant to provide some protection, but it is far too small to stem the lawlessness by itself.

The United Nations Security Council, which has so far refused to call the situation in Darfur genocide, agreed in February to send thousands of additional peacekeepers, but it may take almost a year for them to arrive and the Sudanese government has refused to approve a U.N. force. Meanwhile, the African Union has announced that its force will remain until at least September.

'WE ALL KNEW'

The people who were chased out of a Darfur village called Mershing know the problem of lawlessness better than most. They went to the local police commander when they began hearing whispers of a looming janjaweed raid. He scoffed at them, threatened them, and ordered them away.

Soon afterward, on January 24, janjaweed militiamen circled the settlement with their guns blazing. They looted the market, stole whatever livestock they could find, and assaulted anyone who dared resist.

The police did not participate directly in the attack on Mershing, residents say, but the officers met with janjaweed leaders before the attack and stood by watching as it was carried out. Worse still, the police ignored pleas of the terrified residents and even taunted some as they fled.

"We knew what would happen," says Kamal Muhammad Yogob, head of the village. "We all knew."

Marc Lacey and Lydia Polgreen are Times reporters based in Kenya and Senegal, respectively. Additional reporting by Nicholas D. Kristof.

Sudan: the tragedy of Darfur (LESSON PLAN 3: INTERNATIONAL)

BACKGROUND

There have tong been tensions in Darfur between Arabs, who tend to be nomadic, and blacks, who are mostly farmers. Recent droughts and desertification led some Arabs to drive black farmers from their land. The janjaweed attacks on blacks in Sudan and Chad are the latest manifestation of this ongoing conflict.

CRITICAL THINKING

* Tell students that the Clinton administration was criticized for failing to intervene in genocide in the African country of Rwanda in 1994. Should the Bush administration take a lesson from that time and intervene in cases Like Darfur? What are the arguments for and against U.S. intervention?

* Tell students that Sudan's government denies it is supplying and encouraging janjaweed attacks in Darfur.

* Ask students why they think Sudan takes this position, in spite of evidence that it provides supplies to the janjaweed. (An admission that it is involved in human rights violations could trigger an unfavorable response from other nations. Sudan is threatened with economic sanctions by the U.N.)

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

* What evidence does the article present that the Sudanese government might use to justify action against blacks? (Rebel groups in Darfur demanded greater autonomy.)

* Why do you think Chad has not responded militarily to the raids across its border by the janjaweed? (Chad does not have the military resources to protect its border.)

WRITING PROMPT

* Have students write a letter for UNICEF in which they appeal for contributions to continue the group's work in Darfur

FAST FACTS

[right arrow] Janjaweed, an Arabic colloquialism, means "a man with a gun on a horse."

[right arrow] A separate 21-year civil war between Sudan's Arab north and black south finally ended in 2005.

WEB WATCH

www.unicef.org/emerg/darfur UNICEF reports on its activities in Darfur; includes a population table.