Displaced attacked inside Darfur’s camps

Pro-government militiamen attacked two camps for the displaced in Nierteti and Zalingei, Central Darfur, on Sunday and Monday. Many families were displaced by another attack on a village in Kabkabiya, North Darfur, on Saturday.

Armed militiamen opened fire on residents of Hamidiya camp in Zalingei locality on Sunday, wounding four. They seized a vehicle that was coming from Taringa and fled. The four wounded, Fadul Adam Adam, Elias Adam Basher Adam, Muzamil Abakar Ahmed and Faisal Ahmed Mohamed Ibrahim, are in a serious condition and have been taken to Zalingei hospital for treatment, a witness told Radio Dabanga.

A group of pro-government militiamen, riding motorcycles, attacked El Shamaliya camp for displaced people in Nierteti on Monday afternoon. They opened fire on Adam Yassin (27) and stole his mobile phone.

A witness told Radio Dabanga that the militiamen are still stationed near the camp, at Centre 7 and Centre 8, “constituting a threat to our lives”. He added that the Nierteti hospital has received a number of the displaced who were seriously injured, including Zainab El Hafiz Ibrahim, Adam Musa Abdelrahman and Ahmed Yahya Hamid.

Residents of Nierteti told Radio Dabanga that the roads leading to Nierteti, Kas, Shangil Tobaya, and Kabkabiya are closed. Villagers attempting to flee the fierce fighting between rebel combatants and government forces in the western part of Jebel Marra to the camps for displaced people, have difficulty reaching these relative safe places.

Kabkabiya, North Darfur

The residents of Bardi village, 45 kilometres east of Kabkabiya in North Darfur, fled after militiamen attacked them on Saturday. On Monday, 47 families who fled the village arrived in Kabkabiya town. They told the coordinator of the Kabkabiya camps that they fled after the Sheikh of Bardi and three other villagers were beaten by the attackers, and their homes torched.

The coordinator told Radio Dabanga that the “860 newly displaced people” are now hosted in El Salam camp. Peacekeepers of Unamid and other aid organisations have run an inventory. He explained that most of the newly displaced are women, children, and elderly people.

Photos below: Unamid peacekeepers run an inventory on the new arrivals at El Salam camp on Monday 18 January (by RD correspondent)