Displaced woman killed, shootings in North Darfur camps

A young displaced woman was shot dead in El Fasher locality on Monday. Three people were wounded in separate attacks by gunmen near their camps.

The woman had gone out with seven other displaced women from Zamzam camp to collect firewood in the area of Sali Sala. Three gunmen, wearing military uniforms, intercepted them and shot and killed Maria Hassan Ali Juma (18).

The incident occurred 15 km west of Zamzam. The same men have attacked firewood collectors Nora Adam Jarelnabi and her sister Hira at an open area in Sali Sala, an activist from the camp told Radio Dabanga on Monday.

“The attack has caused the sisters several injuries,” he said. “They resisted attempts to beat them, after which the gunmen opened fire, shooting Nora in her hand. Hira sustained a fractured rib.”

In Sortony camp in Kabkabiya locality, militiamen opened fire on a group of displaced people on Sunday evening, wounding one man.

The camp coordinator in the locality told Radio Dabanga that militiamen opened fire on eight camp residents – six women and two men – who were returning from Karni, south of the camp.

Harun Adam Hussein was injured and transferred to the Doctors Without Borders hospital for treatment. The seven others were unharmed, according to the coordinator.

Tensions have risen between militiamen and unidentified armed men and newly displaced people in North Darfur since the large influx of displaced from Jebel Marra into the camps, which began in January. The Sudanese government and the holdout armed rebels have fought heavily in the area for more than three months.

Militiamen reportedly gathered outside the camp, following tensions between members of militias and displaced people in Sortony in the beginning of April. Sortony camp is near the Unamid team site, and offers refuge to an estimated 68,000 people who have fled from the fighting more than two months ago. The population number was provided by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) mid-February.