‘No aid has yet reached newly displaced of Rahad El Berdi, South Darfur’: Omda

The newly displaced people in the Tuham area of Rahad El Berdi locality in South Darfur now number 2,500 families, according to deputy omda Mahdi Al Baghir. “They are living difficult humanitarian conditions, in the open, with no assistance from humanitarian organisations,” the omda said, appealing to international organisations to assist in resolving the situation. Al Baghir told Radio Dabanga that the newly displaced people have arrived since April from several areas, including Umm Dukhun and Abu Jardal and are now stationed in the areas of Tuham and Umm Thaware. He appealed through Radio Dabanga to national and international organisations to speed-up addressing their situation. “It is very tragic as they live without shelter or food. Some of the organisations visited the region earlier under the pretext of registering the number of newly displaced, but have not delivered any aid yet.”Rahad El Berdi, where many battles have raged between Salamat and Al Taaysha, is the stronghold of the latter. The two sides have been involved in clashes against each other in a spill-over conflict that began on 4 April in Umm Dukhun, Central Darfur, between the Salamat and Misseriya tribes. The battles displaced about 50,000 people, according to the UNHCR.Human Rights Watch recently suggested in a report, in line with previous reports by Radio Dabanga, that alleged war criminal Ali Kushayb fought alongside the Misseriya against the Salamat in Central and South Darfur.Ali Kushayb, reportedly from the Al Taaysha tribe himself, is a suspected war criminal wanted by the International Criminal Court and the commander of the Central Reserve Forces (known as Abu Tira) in South Darfur.File photo: A newly-displaced Darfur woman with her children (Albert González Farran/Unamid)Related:Sudan allowed its forces to attack civilians in Darfur tribal battles: HRW (3 June 2013)Darfur: Al Taaysha ‘merciless’ attacks continue, says Salamat leader (9 May 2013)