Militiamen threaten to torch West Darfur camp

Pro-government militiamen have threatened to burn down a camp for internally displaced people in West Darfur, unless the residents compensate for the injuries two of their comrades sustained on Wednesday.

On Thursday, the militiamen made their demand for an unspecified amount of money to the displaced community of Sese camp in Kereinik locality. One of the displaced told Radio Dabanga that after the police and the sheikhs in the camp concluded that SDG 4,000 ($668) was to be paid to the militia, which the displaced people did, the men demanded more money and threatened to otherwise torch the camp. “The situation is tense, as the militia members are still stationed next to the camp,” the camp resident explained.

The incident that preceded the threats related to the rape of one displaced woman on Wednesday morning by militiamen. Two women went out on Wednesday morning to collect straw near the camp when four militiamen on camels intercepted the way. One of the women ran to the camp to report it. A group of camp residents arrived to the scene to discover that the other woman had been raped. They got into a fight with the men, which resulted in the stabbing of two militia members.

“That same evening, the militiamen gathered to attack the camp, and burned two houses,” the source said. Members of the militia returned the next morning to demand a compensation for the injuring of two of their personnel and threatened to otherwise burn down the camp. When consulted, the local police and the camp sheikhs came with the solution in which they committed the displaced community to pay SDG 4,000. The militiamen retreated after receiving the money, but continued to express their threats.