Arrests and hunger in N. Darfur after December fighting

Security forces have arrested 33 people in territories where the government forces in December attacked villages thought to be under control of the Sudan Liberation Army faction of Minni Minawi. The number of detainees includes 25 from Dar es Salaam and 8 from Shangil Tobayi. Fifteen other people are missing.A witness informed Radio Dabanga that Badr Abdelgader, Babikir Adam Hasaballah and Adam Hassan were detained Wednesday in Shangil Tobayi. The witness said that government forces are still besieging the IDP camps and preventing affected people from leaving, especially young men in the three camps around Shangil Tobaya (UNAMID-North, Naivasha and Shaddad). The witness appealed to the humanitarian organizations and the United Nations to speed up efforts to protect them.

In this context, the humanitarian situation and the health situation within these camps has gotten very bad, according to the witness, who noted that deaths and disease have seemed most prevalent among children, women, and the disabled. The witness said that since the events of December so far they have gotten very little food.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it assisted 7800 people around Shangil Tobaya who were affected by the fighting. “They have been sleeping in the open, with no shelter or bedding, in temperatures as low as 10 degrees Celsius at night. Most are women and children, many are less than five years old,” said a statement released by the organization. ICRC gave out plastic sheeting, blankets, clothes, utensils for cooking and hygiene.