Sudan army blocks UN peacekeepers from massacre site in Darfur

The Sudanese army yesterday prevented United Nations peacekeepers from reaching a highland town in Darfur where a massacre took place last Thursday, 2 September. The commanding officer of the army unit that blocked the peacekeepers said that there were ongoing operations in the area. Fifty-seven (57) people were killed last Thursday in the market of Tabarat when gunmen began randomly firing on crowds of shoppers. Another 86 were injured. The government had previously threatened to shut down the market. The area is in territory contested by the Sudan Liberation Army faction of Abdel Wahid Al Nur. The attack on the market coincided with government offensive operations elsewhere in the area. Witnesses blamed ‘janjaweed’ for the massacre.

The market is near to another town called Tawila, where the United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission (UNAMID) has a presence. In a statement today the mission said “the security situation in Tawilla area remains calm but unpredictable.”

According to the press statement, the UNAMID convoy yesterday was traveling from El Fasher to Tabarat when it was stopped by a Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) convoy. The commanding officer informed the peacekeepers “not to return before two days due to ongoing SAF operations in the area.”