Train guards’ shooting causes stampede at Kalma camp, South Darfur – Dozens injured

Government troops and pro-government militiamen guarding a fuel train reportedly fired into the air on Sunday, causing panic in Kalma camp for displaced persons near Nyala, capital of South Darfur. The ensuing stampede resulted in dozens of injuries and caused several pregnant women to miscarry. Multiple witnesses told Radio Dabanga that as the fuel train, en route from Ed Daein in East Darfur to Nyala, passed in the vicinity of the camp at 10am on Sunday, the train’s armed guards open fire over the camp. “This caused panic among the displaced, with dozens of fractures and wounds, especially among school children,” the witnesses said. There was reportedly similar firing into the air on Saturday as the same train moved through Bielel locality. Sheikh Mahjoub Adam Tabaldiya of El Salam camp near Nyala told Radio Dabanga that the shops in the locality were closed from 4pm on Saturday and Sunday after train guards subjected the area to heavy fire, and shoppers and traders fled for their homes. Sheikh Tabaldiya said that the terror it instilled on displaced residents also prompted several farmers to return to their homes for the night. He appealed to the UN and the Security Council to provide security for the displaced.Especially during the rainy season when roads can become impassable, the line from Ed Daein to Nyala is a major supply artery for the South Darfur capital. Recent clashes between government forces and rebel groups have frequently delayed trains at Ed Daein, resulting in shortages in Nyala. File photo: A train on the Nyala lineSLA-MM ‘capture fuel convoy bound for Nyala’ in Darfur (3 June 2013)