The military attack was aided by Sudan's regime-aligned Janjaweed
militia, the sources said. They said Haskanita was destroyed in the air and
ground assault.
The United Nations, which operates in Darfour, said most of Haskanita's
7,000 residents have fled. UN staffers said the mosque and school were the
only
buildings left in Haskanita.
On Monday, the Khartoum offensive spread to Muhajeria in southern
Darfour, regarded as a neutral zone. Muhajeria has served as the base for a
faction of the Sudanese Liberation Army that signed a peace accord with
Sudan in 2006.
On Monday, the U.S. embassy in Khartoum expressed condemnation of the
attack on Haskanita. The embassy statement called on the regime and rebels
to "immediately end the cycle of violence" in Darfour.
On Sept. 29, the African Union base near Haskanita was attacked and 10
soldiers were killed. At that point, the AU peace-keeping force, which did
not identify the attackers, withdrew and demanded that Khartoum secure the
area.
"It's very troubling that a city which was under the control of the
government of Sudan could be burned down," UN peace-keeping commander
Jean-Marie Guehenno said on Monday.
The Sudanese Army said the destruction in Haskanita was caused by a fire
rather than a military assault. An army spokesman dismissed the UN damage
assessment.
At the same time, the UN, which has sought to organize a 26,000-member
joint force with the African Union, has ordered the evacuation of staffers
from Nyala, the capital of South Darfour. The UN order came amid attacks on
aid workers and gun battles between government soldiers and rebels.
"There is a serious risk of the Darfour situation going beyond Darfour,"
Guehenno said.
