Thousands hiding in Darfur’s East Jebel Marra without water, food

About 20,000 people hiding in the mountains in East Jebel Marra, North Darfur, are in urgent need of assistance. They are unable to search for food and water, or leave for the nearest camps for the displaced, as the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have tightened their control in the area. Villagers are unable to bury their dead because of the rampant insecurity.

Multiple sources reported that about 20,000 people, mostly women, children, and elderly, are hiding in the mountains between Deribat and Fanga from the RSF militias who started attacking their villages on Friday.

“In particular the people who sought refuge in the areas west of Fanga, Kolokata, Soni El Arous, and El Sawani, are stranded, without any access to water, food, or shelter to protect them from the cold at night,” one of them told Radio Dabanga. “They cannot leave their hiding places because the militia forces are surrounding the area.”

In the area of Fanga, about 30 km northwest of Shangil Tobaya, people attempted to bury some of the bodies of villagers lying in the open. “Yet, militia troops shot at us, killing two men instantly,” a survivor from the attacks reported.

“The bodies of Ismail Musa Adam, Zakaria Yahya Saleh, Abdelshakour Saleh, Abdelmajid Yagoub, Abdelrahman Musa, and Abdelkarim Adam, are lying in the open at about 1 km north of Fanga,” according to the villager.

“The dead found south of Fanga are Osman Haroun, Ayman Saleh, Shogara Mohamed, Abdellatif Yagoub, Zakariya Mahjoub, Maryam Younes (11) and Aisha Mahjoub (7).

“Haroun Juma, Noureldin Ishag, Maryam Ishag Yahya, Adam Ishag Yahya, Jarelnabi Suleiman, Jaber Musa Hamed, and Mustafa Yahya (5) were killed in the area west of the village,” he said.