Militiamen have denied residents of the South Darfur’s Kalma camp for the displaced access to water from wells in the vicinity. The camp is facing an acute crisis of potable water. Speaking to Radio Dabanga, the head of Block 8 of the Kalma camp, sheikh Juma Bakhit, reported that government-backed militia elements on camels and horses, and others on foot, halted 20 women and 17 men from Block 8, when they were on their way to collect water from the wells of Gad El Haboub, located 2km northwest of the camp, over the weekend. “They threatened to beat and kill them if they would return again to fetch water.” Especially the newly displaced people who recently arrived at the camp are facing an acute shortage of drinking water, Bakhit stressed. The sheikh urged relief organisations to accelerate their intervention, and provide the newly displaced with drinking water. File photo: Abu Shouk water point in North Darfur (Albert González Farran/Unamid) Related:Disease hits Kalma camp in South Darfur (1 April 2014) Newly displaced in South Darfur’s Kalma camp receive water; waiting for food (24 March 2014)South Darfur’s Kalma camp: 150 rapes, 148 murders in seven months (5 February 2014) Water crisis in South Darfur’s Kalma camp (28 January 2014)