New wave of displaced swells Zamzam camp in North Darfur

Hundreds of people arrived at Zamzam camp for the displaced near El Fasher, capital of North Darfur, today, fleeing militia attacks on their villages in East Jebel Marra and Tawila locality.

A sheikh reported that about 180 families reached the camp at about 10 am. They fled the widespread raids on their villages launched by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, on Friday morning.

“The villagers arrived on horseback and on foot from the northern part of East Jebel Marra and the area east of Tawila town,” he said.

“They told us that they had left hundreds more families behind, most of them on foot, without water or food. They predicted that already weak people and children may die of hunger, thirst, and the extreme cold at night.”

The camp sheikh appealed to relief organisations and Unamid to provide assistance to the newly displaced as soon as possible.

“Already weak people and children may die of hunger, thirst, and the extreme cold at night.”

People who fled from the areas of Dubo El Omda, Dubo El Madrasa, Fanga, and Tamarawa towards the mountains west of Fanga, told Dabanga that they passed dozens of bodies lying in the open. “Nobody had time to bury them,” one of them said.

“Many children started coughing,” he added. “Others are suffering from diarrhoea.” He also pointed to the fierce cold at night, “in particular this high in the mountains”, saying that they are in urgent need of humanitarian aid.