Popular Defence Force had role in attack on Darfur camp: sources

Leaders of the Popular Defence Force in Zalingei participated in the events in Hamadiya last Friday to Saturday night, sources said, pointing to Nur Aldaan Abdel Wahab and Faki Salah Durug, whose home in a western district of the city was used as a launching point and headquarters for coordinating the operation. One source pointed out that the police and the army did not intervene in the events, and the security service had tried to sow dissension among the tribes of the region.

The gunmen who attacked the camp last Friday night were said to be a group of former camp leaders and residents who were driven out of the camp after fighting with a hard-line anti-government camp faction in late July. The gunmen were supporters of the Doha peace process and were angry that three of their members were allegedly assassinated by the hardliners. Some observers have said that the pro-Doha and anti-Doha factions are loyal to the rebel factions LJM and SLA-Abdel Wahid, respectively.

Meanwhile, a third source told Radio Dabanga that forces of the Minawi SLA faction set up a barrier between the attackers and the camp, which is still in place, while confronting the attacking force of between 25 and 30 fighters armed with various kinds of weapons, wearing military uniform, and backed by Land Cruisers. One of the vehicles was numbered 985 belonging to Popular Defence Force leader for Nur Aldaan. Fighters from other rebel movements were active between the city and the camp during the events that night, however their affiliations are unknown.

The commissioner of Zalingei Locality yesterday told Radio Dabanga that the government had no role in the violence and said that the fighting was between LJM and SLA-Abdel Wahid.

A fourth source told Radio Dabanga that the dead were buried in a mass grave east of Zalingei. Tens of thousands of citizens attended the funeral.