UN has 'no evidence' of chemical weapons in Darfur

The man responsible for the United Nations peacekeeping operations in Darfur told the UN's Security Council that he had not come across any evidence of chemical weapons in Darfur, weeks after an Amnesty International report published 'credible evidence'.

However, Herve Ladsous, the UN's under-secretary-general for peacekeeping, also told the council this was because the UN did not have a presence in the Jebel Marra region.

Following on from the UN's findings, Sudan’s Foreign Minister, Ibrahim Ghandour, has brushed off Amnesty's findings as “fabricated and unfounded accusations”.

"We don’t use chemical weapons against our citizens," Ghandour told Al Jazeera on September 29.

"We haven’t used it; if that has ever happened, it is very easy to tell."

Ladsous said that the security situation in Darfur was "volatile" and that the humanitarian impact of the conflict was "significant".

On the issue of chemical weapons, Ladsous did not call for an investigation however, merely saying that the UN should "maintain full cooperation" with any future investigation by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

Amnesty International published evidence which  "proves Sudan used chemical weapons to kill and maim" civilians, including children.

The investigation also found evidence of a total of 30 likely chemical attacks in the Jebel Marra area of Darfur since January 2016.