Higher toll of wounded in Central Darfur camp attack

New information about the deadly attacks in Aradeiba camp in Central Darfur claims that the people killed in the camp in the past days had been shot in the presence of police and security forces.

One of the camp sheikhs in Aradeiba in Wadi Saleh locality said that among the attackers on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning was an officer of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), named Shabur.

The sheikh claimed that the attack took place on a group of mourning people while members of the police and security service were present at the scene. Three people were killed and the sheikh reported that seventeen people sustained injuries.

Yesterday’s witness reports stated that three displaced people were killed and 12 others were injured by a group of RSF members. The paramilitaries were stationed in the vicinity of Aradeiba.

The African Union – United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (Unamid) released a statement yesterday that the peacekeeping mission will increase the number and frequency of patrols in and around the Central Darfur camps that witnessed violent incidents this week, as well as dispatch integrated teams to verify these incidents.

Speaking to Radio Dabanga on yesterday, the Garsila camps’ sheikh added that the arrival of Unamid troops in Aradeiba helped breaking the militiamen’s siege on the camp and forced them to retreat on Wednesday evening.

“A day after the attacks, a cautious calm has returned to Aradeiba camp,” he said.

Khamsa Degaig camp

Aradeiba camp for displaced people is north of Garsila town in Wadi Saleh locality. It is close to Zalingei locality, where the Khamsa Dagayig camp witnessed a separate deadly attack by militiamen on Monday.

RSF members entered Khamsa Dagayig that morning and opened fire into the air, deadly wounding a woman in the camp.

Zalingei locality commissioner Khalid Bilal Ahmed reported another account of what took place in the camp. The clash took place over friction between camp residents and RSF members who were on their way to El Geneina aboard six vehicles. They “lost their way” in the camp, the commissioner said in a press statement.

The RSF is the country's main paramilitary force – and was integrated into the Sudanese army. It is under direct command of President Omar Al Bashir. Starting 2014, the counterinsurgency force has a track record in fighting the armed movements in South Kordofan, but also conducted raids in dozens of villages in Darfur, and patrols Sudanese borders to intercept illegal migrants.

International organisations including the Enough Project and Human Rights Watch have accused the RSF of carrying out criminal activities against civilians while enjoying impunity.

Condemnation

The National Liberation and Justice Party led by Dr Tijani Sese strongly condemned the attacks on the camps in Central Darfur. In a statement issued by spokesman Ahmed Fadul, the party called on state and local authorities to file criminal reports against the perpetrators.

Fadul said that the attack on Aradeiba camp “exposed the process of the collection of illegal weapons […] this along with the intentional inaction of the state government”.

Also on Thursday, the Darfur Bar Association (DBA) called in a statement on Unamid to execute its international mandate to investigate the repeated attacks by pro-government militias on the camps in Darfur.

The lawyers of the DBA also called on victims of the incidents to file criminal charges against the perpetrators.