520 displaced families reach Tawila in North Darfur

About 520 families who fled the violence in the eastern part of Jebel Marra arrived at the Rwanda camp for the displaced in Tawila locality in North Darfur on Friday and Saturday.

Speaking to Radio Dabanga, a camp elder reported that “the people come from Rufata, Kargo, Bali, Boula, Bergo, Tori, Hillet Abdelbari, Tombari, Kartola, Jeirmi, and Teringa villages in the northern part of Jebel Marra, where their houses were burned to ashes,” he said.

The families fled the continued bombing and shelling of their villages in eastern Jebel Marra that started on Friday, 15 January.

Robbed

He added that militiamen stationed in the areas of Tabari and Fanga intercepted groups of fleeing villagers and robbed them of the few belongings they managed to rescue from their burning houses.

An activist at the camp said that there are hundreds of families “stuck in the wilderness” in the areas of Masla, Tabari, and Tina, near the town of Tawila, because “most of the roads leading to Tawila, in all directions, are blocked by militiamen on motorcycles, camels, and horses.

“Their heavy presence also bars the people of Tawila from leaving the town to collect firewood or straw,” he added. “The situation is extremely dangerous.”

Kabkabiya

Others who fled Rufata, Boula, Bersi, Kagaro, and Nurtello to the north, sought refuge at the Unamid base in the area of Sertina, west of Kagaro in Kabkabiya locality. A source in the neighbourhood described the situation of the newly displaced as dire.