Flood devastation in North Darfur

Flash floods have killed at least 39 people and caused a large number of homes in North Darfur to collapse the Governor of North Darfur, Mohamed Arabi has announced. He pointed out that the state is facing the challenges of the rainy season, on top of the current health and environmental emergencies.

Governor Arabi announced the dissolution of the Fata Borno crisis mechanism, and the formation of a neutral committee headed by the Commander of the Sixth Infantry Division, with broad powers to resolve the conflict in the field and immediately. At least nine people were killed and 17 others wounded during an attack by militiamen on a sit-in at Fata Borno camp for the displaced in Kutum locality in North Darfur in July.

The committee includes the director of the state police rapporteur, the director of the state General Intelligence Service (GIS), the commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, the attorney general of Kutum, in addition to one representative from each of the parties to the crisis.

He said that he took the decision after wide consultations and with the approval of Member of the Sovereign Council, Lt Gen Ibrahim Jabir.

In addition, the coordination meeting of the government of North Darfur, UN agencies, and international organisations in the state capital of El Fasher yesterday discussed the project to strengthen and build community peace in Tawila locality, with joint funding from UN agencies and international organisations, to a value of $4 million.

The meeting discussed how to implement community peace project plans and mechanisms for coordinating and following up the implementation of these projects in Tawila locality.

The Secretary of the Government of North Darfur, Hafiz Bakheet, appealed to the communities concerned with projects and programs to enhance community peace in the state to fully cooperate in order for these projects to see the light. He stressed that Darfur has now entered a new phase based on security and societal peace.

People living in Tawila locality, as well as in Kutum and Kabkabiya – particularly farmers – have suffered numerous attacks by militiamen and militant herders during the past decades. The displaced complain about people from Chad and West Africans who were reportedly invited by the regime of Omar Al Bashir to settle in the villages abandoned by Darfuris when they fled attacks by government forces.

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