Gunmen fire over South Darfur camp, Unamid policemen flee
On Wednesday, militiamen stormed Kalma camp for the displaced in Nyala locality, South Darfur. They said they were searching for their stolen sheep. Speaking to Radio Dabanga, Eisa Saleh, secretary-general of Kalma camp reported that on Wednesday morning, a large group of militiamen on camelback and a Land Cruiser stormed Block 3 of the camp “under the pretext that they were searching their eight sheep that possibly had been stolen by camp residents”. “The displaced denied the theft, and asked the militiamen to leave. The camp elders demanded from the Janjaweed a deadline to search for the stolen animals themselves. In the meantime, they requested Unamid for protection against possible assaults by the gunmen. Unamid responded, and sent 40 policemen, accompanied by two armoured vehicles, and four Land Cruisers to secure the situation at the camp’s Block 3.” “The 87 Janjaweed, 70 of them on camels, and the rest in a Land Cruiser, did not wait for the deadline. They began firing in the air, whereupon the Unamid policemen ran away, leaving behind the armoured vehicles, the Land Cruisers, some shoes and mobile phones. No Unamid staff member stayed, except the translator.” Saleh added that the flight of the Unamid policemen scared the camp population. “About a thousand displaced, including children, also fled from the camp. They only returned on Wednesday evening, and others on Thursday morning. Two boys, Mohamed Osman Mustafa (10), and Adil Abakar Mohamed (12), have not returned yet.” “As soon as the Unamid policemen ran from the camp, the Janjaweed demanded from the camp sheikhs the payment of SDG8,000 ($1,400) for the eight allegedly stolen sheep. The camp elders, after consultation, considered it better to pay the amount, than let the gunmen enter the homes of the people and possibly assault them during their search. The camp residents managed to collect the amount among each other. Once the militiamen had received the SDG8,000, they left.” File photo
On Wednesday, militiamen stormed Kalma camp for the displaced in Nyala locality, South Darfur. They said they were searching for their stolen sheep.
Speaking to Radio Dabanga, Eisa Saleh, secretary-general of Kalma camp reported that on Wednesday morning, a large group of militiamen on camelback and a Land Cruiser stormed Block 3 of the camp “under the pretext that they were searching their eight sheep that possibly had been stolen by camp residents”.
“The displaced denied the theft, and asked the militiamen to leave. The camp elders demanded from the Janjaweed a deadline to search for the stolen animals themselves. In the meantime, they requested Unamid for protection against possible assaults by the gunmen. Unamid responded, and sent 40 policemen, accompanied by two armoured vehicles, and four Land Cruisers to secure the situation at the camp’s Block 3.”
“The 87 Janjaweed, 70 of them on camels, and the rest in a Land Cruiser, did not wait for the deadline. They began firing in the air, whereupon the Unamid policemen ran away, leaving behind the armoured vehicles, the Land Cruisers, some shoes and mobile phones. No Unamid staff member stayed, except the translator.”
Saleh added that the flight of the Unamid policemen scared the camp population. “About a thousand displaced, including children, also fled from the camp. They only returned on Wednesday evening, and others on Thursday morning. Two boys, Mohamed Osman Mustafa (10), and Adil Abakar Mohamed (12), have not returned yet.”
“As soon as the Unamid policemen ran from the camp, the Janjaweed demanded from the camp sheikhs the payment of SDG8,000 ($1,400) for the eight allegedly stolen sheep. The camp elders, after consultation, considered it better to pay the amount, than let the gunmen enter the homes of the people and possibly assault them during their search. The camp residents managed to collect the amount among each other. Once the militiamen had received the SDG8,000, they left.”
File photo
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