Situation in West Darfur camp tense after killings

The situation in the area of Kerending camp for the displaced near El Geneina, capital of West Darfur, remains tense after government forces torched the camp market and shot at protesting camp residents on Sunday.

The problems started when the Commissioner of El Geneina announced his decision to remove the Kerending camp market earlier this week.

After the displaced strongly opposed the idea, the commissioner ordered police and security forces to remove the market by force. On Sunday morning they torched the market stalls, whereupon camp residents set fire to the police post and a number of locality buildings in the area. Other took to the streets in a protest march.

The government forces then started to shoot at the protesters. Two women and a child were fatally hit. Nine others sustained injuries.

“Today, community leader Saleh Arrab and seven other camp residents who were detained during the camp protests against the removal of the market, were released,” a camp elder reported. “The bridge between the camp and the capital was reopened as well.

“But the situation, despite the relative calm, remains tense, as the people are still extremely angry about what happened,”he said. “They demand the commissioner to be removed and brought to justice.”

A medical source told Dabanga Radio that the autopsy of the dead and medical investigation of the wounded confirmed that they were shot in the chest, the abdomen, and the thighs.

A legal expert said this indicates that the shooting was for the purpose of killing. Six of the wounded were taken to El Geneina Hospital in a very serious condition. He said he fears for their life as “The hospital is short of specialists and is very poorly equipped”.