‘Unamid continues to protect displaced in Central Darfur’

“Unamid remains constantly engaged with the ongoing displacements and serious humanitarian consequences caused by the fighting between government forces and armed movements in Jebel Marra in Central Darfur,” according to a press statement by the Mission today.

Unamid says that 8,403 affected civilians, mostly women and children, have taken refuge in the vicinity of the Mission’s Sortoni team site in North Darfur.

According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 2,385 people have also been displaced to Tawila in North Darfur. The Commissioner of Tawila locality has appealed to Unamid and humanitarian actors to assist some 800 displaced people who have arrived at the Rwanda camp in the locality.

Furthermore, Unamid is attempting to verify reports of people trapped in areas where combat is ongoing, the press statement reads.

On 23 January, the Mission’s Nierteti Team Site in Central Darfur reported sporadic heavy artillery gunfire and bombings in the Jebel Marra area.

Unamid is attempting to verify reports of people trapped in areas where combat is ongoing.

The Mission is working with the UN Country Team, and national and international NGOs to protect the displaced in Sortoni, Tawila, and Nierteti, and provide emergency humanitarian relief.

The Unamid statement calls on both parties to cease hostilities, and stands ready to assist in any efforts to arrive at a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

Military campaign

On 15 January, the Sudan Armed Forces in cooperation with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and Darfuri militiamen launched a major offensive on Mount Jebel Marra, the main stronghold of the rebel Sudan Liberation movement, led by Abdelwahid El Nur.

The residents of at least 140 villages in Jebel Marra (in Rokoro locality in Central Darfur) have fled the continuous bombing and shelling by government forces. The majority of the villagers fled high into the mountain, “where they must endure dire humanitarian conditions”, a source told Radio Dabanga from Golo.

In late December last year, Khartoum began its second “dry season campaign” against the rebels in Darfur. Apart from dozens of villages in North Darfur, many villages in the Jebel Marra area were also attacked and plundered.