KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) -
Pro-government janjaweed militiamen killed three students in a northern Darfur city, as rebel groups massed nearby in preparation for a possible attack against the forces, U.N. officials said Wednesday.
Outside the same city, El Fasher, civilians and refugees rioted against the African Union peacekeeping mission for not doing enough to protect them from attacks.
A coalition of Darfur rebels warned Tuesday that it could attack the janjaweed fighters, a day after the militia looted the city's main market. A U.N. official said by telephone that the rebels were gathered about six miles outside El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur province.
"That they take the town is highly unlikely, but we're preparing for the possibility of a quick raid," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
The worsening security situation in El Fasher underscores the increasing violence in Darfur, where more than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million driven from their homes since ethnic African rebels rose up against the government in 2003. The government is accused of unleashing the janjaweed - Arab tribal fighters - to help it put down the rebellion, and the janjaweed are blamed for the worst atrocities against civilians during the conflict.
The U.N. had evacuated 135 staff members, diplomats and aid workers from El Fasher by late Tuesday, said Dawn Blalock, spokeswoman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Sudan. Other staff could be pulled out if the situation worsens, she said.
"Our priority is not to interrupt the humanitarian assistance," Blalock said.
Some 200 U.N. personnel and aid workers remained in El Fasher, a city of more than 200,000 people that is a regional administrative center for aid agencies, the AU peacekeeping mission and the Sudanese army. Large refugee camps are also located on the town's outskirts.
Janjaweed fighters attacked students from El Fasher's university late Tuesday, killing one. Two students were then slain by militiamen Wednesday while demonstrating against the assault, according to an aid worker and a U.N. official in the city. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
Civilians and refugees rioted Wednesday outside the AU peacekeeping base on El Fasher's outskirts, stoning the troops' vehicles and burning down shops, a U.N. official said. The official also spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.
Sporadic shooting could be heard in various parts of the city and shops and schools were closed Wednesday. The Sudanese army has been heavily deployed in the town, the U.N. official said.
Both U.N. and aid workers said it is unclear how much control the army has over the janjaweed fighters in the town. There have been several incidents in which militiamen have clashed with the regular government forces.
Violence broke out in El Fasher on Monday when janjaweed fighters looted a cattle market and then clashed with former rebels of the Sudan Liberation Movement, killing two and losing two of their own men, the AU peacekeeping mission to Darfur said.
SLM leader Minni Minawi, who is the only rebel leader to sign a peace deal with Khartoum and is now part of the government, set an ultimatum for Khartoum to rein in the janjaweed by the end of December. Khartoum denies backing the militia, but agreed to disarm them under the May peace deal.
U.N. staff and aid workers were also largely evacuating zones of eastern Chad close to the border with Darfur. The evacuations threaten to leave more than half of the 200,000 Darfur refugees living in Chad without humanitarian assistance, the U.N. refugee agency said.
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