The number of people who have died in Sudan's war-ravaged Darfur region could be as high as 350,000, according to a senior United Nations official.

Jan Egeland, the UN's humanitarian chief, says pneumonia, diarrhea and malnutrition has killed three to five times the official estimate of 70,000 put out last year by the World Health Organization.




The conflict has driven more than 1.2 million people from their villages in 18 months.

"Is it three times that? Is it five times that? I don't know, but it's several times the number of 70,000 that have died altogether," Egeland told reporters after returning from a four-day trip to the region.

The Sudanese government has been accused of using Janjaweed Arab militia against Sudanese of African origin. The Janjaweed are accused of mass killings and rapes.

Egeland has also warned that women are still being systematically abused and raped. He met with senior officials in Khartoum, telling them that the situation was out of control in Darfur.

The UN, United States and European Union are sending another mission to Darfur to assess the situation further.

Egeland is also urging international donors to contribute more funds for Darfur and the rest of Sudan, which is only now recovering from a different civil war, between the north and south. A peace agreement was signed last year to end the 21-year-old conflict.