War remnant explodes, kills two children in Darfur’s Jebel Marra

A blast coming from a detonating remnant of war in the area of Feina killed two children and cut the limbs of a third child on Thursday morning.

The unexploded ordnance (UXO*) was lying in the open in Dolo, 15 km north of Feina in East Jebel Marra, family members of the victims told Radio Dabanga. Yousif Ibrahim Yahya (8), Abdelgadir Ayoub Saleh (12) and Hamid Ibrahim Suleiman (15) were grazing cattle near Dolo village when they found the UXO.

“The children tried to lift the item and move it but it instantly exploded, killing Hamid and Abdelgadir,” a relative said. The explosion chopped off the leg of Yousif, who later also had one of his hands amputated.

Two weeks ago a woman was killed outright when an UXO detonated, 15 km south of Deribat in eastern Jebel Marra.

Clearance

At least 105 square km of dangerous areas and 37,898 km of roads in Sudan have been cleared of various types of landmines and unexploded ordinances (UXOs) by the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) and the Sudanese National Mine Action Centre (NMAC), the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Sudan reported.

“The clearing provides unhindered passage and the freedom to cultivate land and graze livestock to hundreds of thousands of people living in fear of mine accidents,” OCHA said.

Rebels’ appeal

The rebel Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdelwahid El Nur (SLM-AW) has sent an urgent appeal to humanitarian actors for giving relief to thousands if civilians in Jebel Marra who have been displaced by armed conflict.

“After escaping the bullets of the government’s militias, thousands of civilians whose villages have been burned in Jebel Marra now live in caves and valleys without food, medicine or shelter,” the statement read. Especially people in Feina, Sawani, Garbal, and Bahrkro need urgent humanitarian intervention, according to the rebels. The statement is not addressed to any organisations specifically.

Fighting between government troops and pro-government militias with rebels of the SLM-AW has reportedly displaced an estimated 50,000 people. Numbers of them have taken refuge in mountain caves, including in the Lebei area.

* Years of conflict have left Darfur and other war-torn areas of Sudan littered with unexploded ordnance (UXO). Radio Dabanga appeals to listeners throughout the region (and elsewhere in our reception area) not to touch any ‘unexploded’ grenades or other ammunition found in the field. Mark its position clearly to alert others, and report it immediately to a camp elder, Unamid and/or the local police.