Barrel bombs kill 13, deserted villages torched in Jebel Marra, Darfur

On Wednesday morning 13 people, including four children, were killed in an aerial bombardment on the area east of Golo in Jebel Marra. On Tuesday, a number of abandoned villages northwest of Golo were attacked by the Sudanese Air Force and government forces.

“Between 9 and 10 am, an Antonov of the Sudanese Air Force dropped at least nine barrel bombs on the area of Jo Kosti, about 18 kilometres east of Golo,” a villager reported to Radio Dabanga from the area.

“When we heard the sound of the Antonov circling above the area, we sought were protection in the nearby creeks and valleys,” he said.

“The aircraft then dropped two barrel bombs on Jo Kosti village and seven bombs on our hiding places, which led to the death of 13 people, among them Mujtaba Jalaleldin (2), and siblings Arafa (10), Suliman (8), and Majdi Habib Adam (7).”

He added that 19 people were wounded, “most of them seriously.

“We have problems to stop the bleeding ourselves, as there is no hospital or clinic nearby, and the health centre in the neighbourhood does not even have the simplest medicines any more,” he explained. “We are attempting to stop the bleeding with pieces of cloth, ropes, and the bark of the Gambeel tree.”

‘Ethnic cleansing’

On Tuesday afternoon, seven villages were burned to ashes in the area about 15 kilometres northwest of Golo.

“Government forces suddenly raided and torched the villages,” a victim told Radio Dabanga. “The villages were deserted as the residents sought refuge in caves and valleys days ago.”

He added that the attacks coincided with air raids of the Sudanese Air Force. “An Antonov dropped seven barrel bombs on Tek Ro village, six kilometres from Golo. About 40 houses burned to the ground.”

Tek Ro village was deserted as well.

The source said that the people in Jebel Marra are convinced that the government aims to empty Jebel Marra of its original inhabitants. “This simply means ethnic cleansing.”

He appealed to the UN Security Council “to act immediately to halt the ongoing aerial bombardments, and rescue the people in Jebel Marra”.