‘1,000 people fled violence in West Darfur village’: OCHA

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and its humanitarian partners reported that a number of people from Mouli, south of El Geneina, have left the village since the attacks by armed men last weekend, and fled to a camp for displaced people.

The office and humanitarian organisations on the ground estimated that 1,000 people left Mouli in order to stage a protest against the attacks on Saturday and Sunday, in which five civilians were reportedly killed, in front of the Governor's office. The protest turned violent, and one Mouli resident was shot dead by security forces. Three people were shot dead by security forces during the funeral on Monday, which was attended by a large crowd, witnesses told Radio Dabanga.

Authorities said that a total of 12 people, including three of the attackers, were killed. 

The approximately 1,000 newly displaced people from Mouli left the premises of the Governor's office and moved to the Abu Zar camp for the displaced in El Geneina on Monday, according to OCHA. Together with humanitarian partners it attempts to verify their numbers and needs amid a tense security situation.

'There are also reports of additional civilians on the move between Mouli and El Geneina, whilst the plight of those who remain in Mouli remains of particular concern,' OCHA writes in its latest weekly bulletin.

'There have been reports that members from both tribes – the Beni Halba and Massalit – are mobilising for another confrontation. Humanitarian agencies will conduct a needs assessment and potential response to meet the needs of newly displaced people as soon as the security situation on the ground allows.'

Meanwhile, the Sudanese government has set up a committee to probe the incident.

Relative stability

The humanitarian office adds that West Darfur State has seen relative safety and less security incidents compared to the four other Darfur states over the past few years. 'There have been some sporadic instances of tension and localised violence between farmers and pastoralists especially during the harvest and seasonal migration periods.'

In 2015, the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project recorded 1,197 security events (instances of armed conflict, killings, riots, recruitment activities by partiers to the conflict, protests and violence against civilians, and non-violent events) in Sudan. With 809 individual events recorded, the Darfur region accounted for 68 percent of all events in Sudan. In West Darfur State, 95 security events (about 12 percent of the total for Darfur) were recorded.