Severe confrontations in Sudan’s Darfur
The United Nations declared on Monday that at least 40 people have been murdered and 58 wounded in three days of confrontations in Sudan’s West Darfur state.
Severe clashes in the West Darfur
People of El Geneina, capital of West Darfur and close to the border with Chad, declared that firing erupted in the city at dawn on Monday, with the explosion of ammunitions in the suburbs. Witnesses also reported that columns of smoke appeared in the sky and people escaped from the violence.
Moreover, AFP reported that the UN humanitarian coordination office OCHA said in a statement that since April 3, 40 people have been murdered, adding that the confrontations pushed Arab groups against the non-Arab Massalit ethnic community in the city of El Geneina, while the situation is very tense.
On its part, Sudan’s top security body, the defense council, announced late Monday a state of emergency in West Darfur state and deployed forces in the region.
Besides, a witness, Abdelrahman Ahmed, informed AFP: On Monday, we woke up to the sound of gunfire, and confrontations spread to the western suburbs. It is no clear what the reason of the latest violence.
Conflict in 2003
A civil war that exploded in 2003 damaged the vast Darfur region, when about 300,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced, in what the UN reported. The war was erupted when ethnic minority rebels revolted against dictator Omar al-Bashir’s Arab-dominated government.
At that period, Khartoum deployed a disreputable Arab-dominated militia known as the Janjaweed from among the region’s nomadic tribes. Over the years, the conflict has reduced and a latest peace agreement was agreed in October.
However; after years of battle, the region become full of automatic weapons, and confrontations remain erupt, often about land and access to water. Inhabitants that were long displaced during the worst years of the war are returning to find others have occupied their lands.
Witnesses of the clashes
Eyewitnesses stated that combat was remaining active on Monday afternoon, as dense smoke rose over El Geneina. Adam Issa, another resident, said: We stayed in our homes, but we’ve been hearing gunfire close by a shell landed at our neighbor’s home.
Furthermore, the West Darfur Doctors’ Committee stated that an ambulance transported injured victims was attacked. It’s often that clashes pushed nomadic Arab pastoralists against settled farmers from non-Arab ethnic groups.
Another El Geneina resident, Saleh Issa also indicated that he saw a cloud of smoke covering swathes of the city, adding : Some residents from these neighborhoods have fled towards our area most of are women and children.
Soudan live a difficult situation
After the failing of long-time president Omar al-Bashir in April 2019 over the wide protests against his rule, Sudan is in a hard transitional period. The transitional government made pressure to establish peace with rebel groups in Sudan’s main conflict zones, including Darfur.
The UN and African Union, on December 31, finished a 13-year peacekeeping mission in Darfur, even as residents are terrified of more violence. More than 200 people were murdered in confrontations in January, in the worst killing situation in the region during years.
