Tribal leaders arrested over North Darfur violence

The security committee in charge of dealing with the escalated insecurity in Saraf Omra, North Darfur, have arrested 10 leaders from Fur and Tama tribes. Bloody clashes took place in the town last week, which killed 11 people and wounded dozens more. Negotiations continued between the two tribes under the supervision of the committee.

According to Mohamed Khater, Saraf Omra witnessed a cautious calm following the arrival of military reinforcements.

Khater told Radio Dabanga that the situation in Saraf Omra is gradually returning to normal after last week’s clashes and that schools and markets reopened. He explained that there was a low turnout in schools in the neighbourhoods where the clashes took place, while the attendance rate in other neighbourhoods was nearly 100 per cent.

Khater also expects commercial activities at the market to return to normal by Tuesday.

The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC)* reported that 16 families and 74 individuals were displaced after their homes burned down during the clashes. In their report, the IDMC stated that the people found refuge in homes of relatives but that there was an urgent need for shelter, food, and aid.

Last month, the IMDC stated that the recent surge in inter-communal attacks in West, South, and North Darfur forced more people to flee their homes in three days in January than in the whole of 2020 in Sudan and that the numbers continue to rise.

“Darfur is on the verge of sliding back into conflict” warned IDMC director Alexandra Bilak.

Prison Break

During a press conference on Sunday, the Crisis Management Committee of West Darfur demanded that the El Geneina prison administration report the accurate facts regarding the explosion that took place last Thursday.

The blast took place as part of an escape attempt in which three defendants, incarcerated for participating in the El Geneina attacks at the Kerending Camp, tried to break out of the prison.

Sources reported that two inmates died in the escape attempt. They stated that the police shot at the prisoners. Some of them had to be taken to the hospital. They described the prison as being in a state of great chaos.

*The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre provides data and analysis and supports partners in order to identify and implement solutions for displaced people all over the world.