South Darfur sit-in enters fourth day

Since Friday protestors have been participating in a sit-in condemning the brutal attack on Abdos village in South Darfur's Gireida locality on Thursday, that left 15 people killed and over 25 wounded.

The participants of the sit-in, held in Gireida town, demand justice, disarmament, and protection, in addition to the replacement of the director of Gireida locality, the local police chief, the commander of the army garrison in the locality, an the commanders of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia in the area.

They further urge the investigation of the ‘Abdos massacre’ including the alleged involvement of the RSF in the attack, the opening of police stations in all areas where displaced have returned, a specialised public prosecutor in the locality, the removal of settlers from the farms of the displaced, and more army forces in the area.

Provision of services for the people who returned from the camps for the displaced, including clean drinking water, agricultural machineries, and to upgrade the rural clinic to an educational hospital have also been demanded.

Delegations from Buram and other localities joined the vigil in solidarity with the protesters. Members of the Darfur Displaced and Refugees Coordination in Gereida locality also condemned the attack, describing it as “barbaric” in a statement yesterday.

RSF Deputy Commander Lt Gen Abdelrahim Hamdan, brother of RSF commander and deputy chair of the Sovereign Council, Mohamed Hamdan ‘Hemeti’, visited the Gireida sit-in on Saturday.

He said that the Khartoum will dispatch a joint force, after a delegation from Khartoum, headed by Lt Gen Ibrahim Jabir, member of the Sovereign Council, visited the region last week.

The families of the people who were killed in Abdos will each receive SDG100,000* as compensation.

Electricity will be provided by a large generator that will be installed in Gireida town. Two new wards will be built at the Gireida Hospital, and two new water wells will be constructed in the area. Farmers will receive SDG2 billion for seeds.

Yesterday Sudan’s Prime Minister announced that a joint force of army soldiers, members of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia, and security officers will be deployed in Darfur following a spike in violence in the region. The forces will be sent to all five Darfur states to protect the public from attacks and secure the current agricultural season.

* USD 1 = SDG 55 at the time of posting. As effective foreign exchange rates can vary in Sudan, Radio Dabanga bases all SDG currency conversions on the daily middle US Dollar rate quoted by the Central Bank of Sudan (CBoS). The greenback is selling for more than SDG150 at the parallel market.

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