Rebels said they shot down an army combat helicopter in one clash in North Darfur this week in which dozens were reported killed. More than 43,000 people have fled their homes since December, according to UN officials.
Some diplomats and rights groups say the Sudan government has taken advantage of the landmark self-determination referendum in southern Sudan to launch new attacks on rebels who have been at war with the Khartoum government since 2003.
"We are deeply concerned at the new violence," Ibrahim Gambari, the UN-African Union envoy in Darfur, told the Security Council.
He highlighting "deteriorating" relations between the government and Minni Minawi, the only rebel leader to have signed up to a 2006 Darfur peace accord, but who split with Khartoum last month.
Minni Minawi said his forces shot down a government helicopter at Tabit in north Darfur this week. The UN envoy said there were reports that other groups had joined with Minawi in other deadly clashes in western Darfur this week.
Darfur rebel groups started an uprising against Khartoum in 2003 and the UN says at least 300,000 people have been killed since then in fighting and from starvation and disease caused by the conflict.
The UN-African Union force in Darfur, UNAMID, has also complained about the government stopping them from getting access to villages and camps where fighting is reported.
UNAMID said another two peacekeeper patrols were refused access to two villages in the Graida region of South Darfur on Tuesday. Such accounts are reported almost daily.
Gambari said though that he had ordered UNAMID to take "a more robust posture" in demanding freedom of movement.
The United States, Britain and France have expressed concerned about hostilities in Darfur in recent weeks. UN envoys went into consultations without making public statements however.
Darfur peace talks being held in Doha, Qatar, have been suspended since late December.
Atul Khare, assistant secretary general for peacekeeping, said there has been "some progress" and that work would continue between the government and rebels in February.
However rights groups say the United Nations is painting an over-optimistic picture of events.
"The peace process has petered out," said Jehanne Henry, Sudan researcher at Human Rights Watch, speaking from Sudan. "The situation has sharply deteriorated in recent weeks despite some suggestions otherwise by UN officials.
"The international actors really need to focus again on Darfur and not just congratulate the Sudan government for the peaceful referendum in southern Sudan." (*)
Editor: Kunto Wibisono
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