UNITED NATIONS, April 19: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday expressed concern over the alleged shipment of arms to Sudan’s Darfur region.

Mr Ban “is especially troubled by reports that private or national have been illegally provided with UN markings and used for military purposes”, his spokesperson said on Wednesday at a press conference

“If further substantiated, such actions would be in clear violation of international law and in contravention of the UN’s international status.”

A senior UN official told journalists that there had been three sightings recently of planes with illegal UN markings – one over Darfur, one over a Government-controlled area in neighbouring Chad and one over the Central African Republic (CAR).

In the statement, Mr Ban pledged to work closely with the Security Council on the issue, and expected full cooperation from the Sudanese Government and other States “to provide prompt clarification” about the aircraft.

Since 2003, over 200,000 people have been killed and at least two million others forced to leave their homes to escape fighting between government forces, allied Janjaweed militias and rebel groups. Entire villages have been burned down during the clashes.

Concern has mounted recently that the conflict may spill into Chad and the CAR, and earlier this year Mr Ban described Darfur as the scene of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.