Villagers find 46 lost children after South Darfur attack

Some 46 children were found lost in the wilderness in the area southeast of Nyala, South Darfur, on Saturday, after an attack on dozens of villages in the area by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces on Thursday and Friday. Sheikh Juma Bakhit Hamed, head of Block 8 in the Kalma camp for the displaced in Nyala locality, told Radio Dabanga that those children, aged between 3 and 13, were found dispersed in the area of Gad El Huboub. Villagers on the run found them. They rented two donkey carts for the weakest children which transferred them to Wadi Berle near Kalma camp. Kalma camp residents took the children to the camp where they were accommodated in Block 8. The sheikh urged “Unicef, the International Red Cross, and humanitarian aid organisations to provide immediate support to these children and reunite them with their families”. He also called on the international community to “help out” and provide the newly displaced with food, water, clothing, and shelter. “Some of these villagers arrived at the camp barefooted and half naked.” File photo: Darfuri boys in a refugee camp in eastern Chad (Radio Dabanga archive) Related:‘Thorough review role Unamid required’: Darfur Centre (4 March 2014) Rapid Support Forces welcomed in South Darfur’s capital; Governor accuses rebels of attacks (4 March 2014) 18,000 newly displaced arrive at South Darfur camps; El Salam camp surrounded by militia forces (3 March 2014)