Sudan official: Nyala shelling ‘an accident’; Darfur sources deny

The deputy governor of South Darfur announced on Thursday that the shelling by the government on a market south of Nyala, the state’s capital, was “an accident”. The bombing, Radio Dabanga reported, killed three people and injured at least 15. Abdel Karim Musa, who reportedly attended the victims’ funeral in Nyala, said the incident was not in line with the government’s purpose of providing protection and safety to the people of Darfur. The official said the rebels were actually the target of the bombings and announced the government would form a committee to investigate the accidental killing of the civilians. “Not an accident” However, sources from Nyala affirmed to Radio Dabanga the shelling was not an accident. Instead, they stressed, bombings and people dying as a result thereof are a daily routine in Darfur. They called the deputy governor’s justification that rebels were the ones being targeted as nonsense, as civilians are the ones under attack by bombings. Sources pointed to the fact that if the shelling was in reality a mistake, the Sudanese military would be in charge of making the announcement, as they are the ones responsible for it, not the deputy governor of South Darfur. According to them, the Sudanese government is trying to pass the shelling as a mistake because the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) has many supporters in Nyala and Khartoum does not want to lose them.These supporters include a minister of the central government, sources noted. “The people of Nyala know it was not an accident”, they concluded.Photo: Nyala (Radio Dabanga file)Related: Shelling ‘kills 3, injures 15’ in market near Nyala, S. Darfur (21 February 2013)