Sudan has resumed the use of a government-backed Arab militia to attack black villages in the war-torn province of Darfour.

"The Janjaweed militia attacked Hamada, a town there, and killed more than a hundred people, many of them women and children," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said on Jan. 27.

U.S. officials said Khartoum has employed the Janjaweed militia for ground attacks on villages in Darfour in late January. Officials said Janjaweed troops were supported by air attacks by Sudan's air force, Middle East Newsline reported.

The Bush administration has accused Sudan of violating its agreement in April 2004 for a ceasefire in Darfour. Officials said the use of Janjaweed undermines the north-south peace agreement signed with southern rebels in January 2005.

"What we've seen is that the government of Sudan has conducted aerial bombings, as you say, of Darfour villages," Boucher said. "This is a clear violation of the N'djamena ceasefire agreement and the Abuja Security and Humanitarian Protocols that the government has signed and promised to uphold."

Officials have confirmed reports that at least 100 people were killed in Sudanese Air Force attacks in late January. But they said some of the attacks appear to have been provoked by rebel strikes in Darfour.

But a congressional delegation that returned from Darfour appeared to place the brunt of the blame on the Khartoum regime. The House delegation told a news conference in Washington on Jan. 27 that Khartoum still practices genocide in the western province and called on Russia to stop supplying weapons to Sudan.

"Last summer the House of Representatives went on record labeling the killing in Darfour as genocide," House African subcommittee chairman Ed Royce said. "[Now] having seen Darfour, nothing changes my view."

On Friday, at least 17 people were killed in clashes between security forces and supporters of the rebel Beja Congress of eastern Sudan when Beja members rioted in the town of Port Sudan on the Red Sea. The Beja Congress based in exile in neighboring Eritrea claims to be the sole representative of eastern Sudan and demands more autonomy and resouces for the region.