KHARTOUM, May 23 (Reuters) - Sudan launched air strikes on villages in Darfur last week, international peacekeepers in the western region of Sudan said, adding that residents said more than 10 people were killed in the attacks.
Violence in Darfur, scene of an insurgency pitting mostly non-Arab rebels against government troops backed by largely Arab militias, has fallen from its peak in 2003 and 2004 but a surge in attacks since December has forced tens of thousands to flee.
A patrol from the United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission (UNAMID) confirmed the attacks on May 18 on two villages in north Darfur, Um Rayi and Hashaba.
"According to residents, the attacks resulted in more than 10 deaths," the peacekeepers said in a statement, adding that the two villages were northeast of the town of El Fasher.
The peacekeepers also said that government planes carried out strikes on the May 18 in the area of Baashim village, also northeast of El Fasher. It said no casualties were reported there.
There was not immediate official comment.
The peacekeepers also said more than 1,000 former combatants were preparing to hand over weapons during a disarmament campaign which launched on Saturday in Nyala, south Darfur.
Qatar has hosted Darfur peace talks that have been delayed by rebel divisions and continued military operations on the ground as Khartoum has gradually reasserted control over major towns and other previously rebel-held areas.
The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir on charges of masterminding genocide and war crimes in Darfur.
The United Nations says as many as 300,000 people have died during the conflict. Khartoum puts the death toll at 10,000.
Separately, fighting has flared in the region of Abyei, south of the capital Khartoum. Abyei sits on the border between north and south Sudan, which splits away on July 9 after a January referendum in which southerners chose independence. (Writing by Edmund Blair)
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