The BBC's Fergal Keane witnesses an assault by Sudan's security forces on a refugee camp in the troubled region of Darfur.The first police action at El-Geer refugee camp near Nyala began soon after midnight.

Later they returned and began to beat and tear-gas the frightened crowd.

I saw one of the community leaders being thrown to the ground and attacked by several policemen.

The police launched tear-gas grenades into a compound where women and children were sheltering.

Police then entered and forced them to flee.

Relocation

A police commander at the scene told me he was under orders to move the people to a new camp several kilometres away.

Forcible relocation is a grave breach of international humanitarian law, but the international community is powerless here.
The police showed open contempt for United Nations officials when they arrived, firing tear-gas grenades and driving aggressively around the camp.

African Union (AU) peacekeepers at the camp said they did not have power or mandate to intervene.

More police have now arrived to reinforce the earlier contingent.

The UN representatives pulled out of the camp for security reasons.
All of this took place on a day when the UN representative in Sudan, Mr Jan Pronk, was due to visit the camp to talk with local officials. Government officials in this area knew this.