Commenting on the death of 11 in an ambush this weekend, Darfur rebel groups claim that government-backed Janjaweed militias are amassing near the town of Muhajiriya in South Darfur, a focal point not only of the government's genocide, but of the conflict between Darfur rebel factions as well.

"All of them were Janjaweed. The government gave them bullets and uniforms, and they came to the villages. Our forces fought with them yesterday," Abu Bakr Kadu, a Sudan Liberation Movement-Unity commander, told AFP by telephone.

The commander also boasted that his troops secured the area "and now the place is safe," which I'm inclined to take with a grain of salt.

UN peacekeeping officials confirmed the fighting in the south, but could not offer much detail:

"I can confirm fighting, but between whom and whom has not been confirmed. UNAMID sent a patrol yesterday but it was stopped by militias. We are closely monitoring the situation," said Major Ahmed Salah, deputy military spokesman.

(The peacekeepers are surely doing the best they can given the circumstances, but how can they "closely monitor the situation" if they are also continually thwarted by militias?)

Violence in Darfur has increased over the last six months, particularly in the North Darfur. If there's truth to rebel claims of government-backed troop build-up now spreading to the south, we have good cause to be gravely concerned about a full-scale escalation of the conflict, just as renewed international attention and peace negotiations are picking up steam. Is Khartoum trying to stamp out the rebels and the remaining population of Darfur while they still can, before the world finally wakes up and takes action to stop them?  I can only speculate, but given the track record of this regime, it seems entirely plausible.

Other items of note:

I echo the sentiment of Augusta State University student Jennifer Henderson:

It disgusts me that we jumped immediately into a war on Iraq, pretending like we did it because of what Saddam did to the people of his country and because he was, supposedly, a threat to everyone else in the world. Now, we have a situation that we have officially declared a genocide, but we are not doing a damn thing about it. I’m of the mindset that we need to stop playing World Police, but if we insist on being Super America, why don’t we actually do our self-appointed job?

While I disagree that the US is "not doing a damn thing about it," we certainly aren't doing nearly enough to push for and organize concerted international action to finally end the genocide. But Jennifer raises an excellent point about the ex post facto justification for the invasion of Iraq. Five and a half years and 300,000 lives later, Darfur is still burning.

Finally, check out Susan Morgan's piece in the Huffington Post: Next President Must Act On His Promise To End Genocide In Darfur. Take action now to keep Darfur in the campaign spotlight, and hold the soon-to-be-elected administration to its promises.