West Sudan: Violent incidents in Darfur – At least 168 dead

At least 168 people were killed in violent episodes in Darfura report that is among the heaviest in the province of western Sudan torn apart by decades of war, a non-governmental organization said.

The incidents began in Krink, 80 kilometers from El Jenaina, the capital of West Sudan, on Friday, the day eight people were killed, according to Adam Rigal, spokesman for the NGO General Coordination for Refugees and Displaced Persons in Darfur. .

“At least 168 people were killed (yesterday) Sunday and (another) 98 were injured”said Mr. Rigal, implying that this report is still temporary and may become even heavier.

A local leader of the Masalit tribe said he saw it corpses in many villages in the Krink area. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has called on the authorities to ensure the safe transport of the injured to hospitals in the area.

According to the General Coordination, Violent incidents erupted when gunmen, members of Arab tribes, attacked villages of the African Masalit minority in retaliation for the death on Thursday of two members of their tribe.

Videos and photos uploaded to the Internet show columns of black smoke rising from houses and burned areas where traditional huts used to be. The authenticity of these images is impossible to verify independently.

Dozens of people were killed and hundreds of homes were set on fire, according to the United Nations, in multiple violent incidents in Darfur in recent months. Outbreaks appear to have been exacerbated by the security breach created by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan’s military coup in Khartoum in October.

Clashes between Arab farmers and African farmers over land, access to water and other resources had already claimed the lives of nearly 250 people from October to December in Darfur, according to a group of doctors, part of the pro-democracy movement in Sudan. .

In the vast region of western Sudan, a civil war has been raging since 2003 between the Arab regime and rebels, members of ethnic minorities who have denounced discrimination and marginalization.

The conflict left some 300,000 dead and about 2.5 million internally displaced people and refugees, according to UN estimates.

Sudan, where the thirty-year dictatorship of Omar al-Bashir ended in 2019, is sinking into a political and economic decline after the new military coup.

By the end of the year, the UN warns, 20 of Sudan’s 45 million will face food insecurity. And those most affected in the country, one of the poorest in the world, will be the more than 3.3 million internally displaced, who live almost entirely in camps in Darfur.


Source: News Beast

You may also like