West Darfur Wali pledges security clampdown around Misterei

The new civilian Wali (governor) of West Darfur, Mohamed El Doma, has announced a plan "to comb the areas surrounding Misterei in order to arrest all who seek to destabilise the security and stability in the state, and prevent farmers from planting”.

Governor El Doma visited the Misterei area on Sunday, where a July 25 attack by armed men left at least 60 people dead.

In what has become known as the ‘Misterei massacre’, a third of the town was burned to the ground. Thousands of people fled to the state capital El Geneina, thousands of others to neighbouring Chad.

El Doma stressed that security decisions will be effective: “The state has deployed regular forces intensively in the area and has the ability to carry out its duties towards maintaining security and stability, and extending the prestige of the state”.

He also pledged to establish the necessary arrangements to facilitate the movement of humanitarian convoys to provide assistance to the victims. El Doma ordered a statistical review of those affected by the violence, that he described as “extremely barbaric”.

The governor further said an investigation will be conducted in the locality to find those who have failed to perform their duties and those whose roles were neglected until the area witnessed these tragic events.