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 Re: جمهوريون يحذرون من سيربينتشا جديدة في دارفور ...اقترحوا حظراً جوياً بالإقليم وعقوبات على مس (Re: Mohamed Suleiman)
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We are so caught up in our fear and mourning-
INTERNATIONAL DARFUR DAY-2 WEEKS!
SUDAN: Newly displaced yearn for peace
[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
© Derk Segaar/IRIN
Displaced women in Darfur.
EL FASHER, 12 Sep 2006 (IRIN) - Sheikh Adam Ishac arrived in El Salaam camp for
displaced people on the northern outskirts of the North Darfur State capital,
El Fasher, about 40 days ago with 300 families.
They walked for two days and one night through the desert, fleeing an attack on
Hilla Babikir and surrounding villages. "When the attack took place, we just
ran. I don't know what happened to the people we left behind," Ishac, a
community leader, said.
A man in the group, who declined to be named, said Hilla Babikir was attacked
while people were coming out of the mosque after Friday prayers. "We were
surprised by the shooting and bombing - there was an Antonov plane and two
helicopter gunships - the attack included ground troops who were shooting
indiscriminately," he said. "I don't think we were the target but we were
certainly in the line of fire."
As they spoke, an Antonov plane flew overhead and the sounds of explosions could
be heard in the distance - underlining why members of the Berti community had
fled their homes. They ran for cover each time an explosion reverberated
through El Salaam [or peace] camp.
Since 4 August, about 1,500 people from the area north of El Fasher have arrived
after their villages were bombed, placing them in the crossfire between
government forces and rebels of the National Redemption Front (NRF).
Some of the new arrivals have put up flimsy shelters on a sandy slope outside El
Salaam camp as they await official registration. Among them was 50-year-old
Halima Salaam Mohamed, who was shot in the leg during an exchange of fire in
Turra village but survived a two-day journey in search of treatment. "I was
still in my house when fighting started and when I was trying to get out, I was
hit by a bullet," Halima said.
Kaltum Saleh Adam Saleh also fled Turra with just some food and a cooking pot.
The 32-year-old woman ran from the village with her five children during the
attack and was separated from her husband, whom she has not seen since. "I've
been here for 41 days now and I don't have shelter. The rain is falling on us.
At night, we're attacked by mosquitoes and during the day there is no shade to
hide from the sun," Saleh said.
"We can get medical support, but under these conditions, children get sick
anyway," she added. One child, Acha Ishac, died last week of a respiratory
infection.
None of the new arrivals, awaiting official registration, had received food
assistance, forcing most women to venture outside the camp to collect firewood
and grass to sell so they could buy food. The fortunate few with relatives in
El Fasher were being supported by their kin.
Wave after wave of IDPs
The latest influx of internally displaced persons (IDPs) follows the
approximately 18,000 people who had earlier arrived in El Salaam from Korma.
This area to the west of El Fasher, including that south of Tawilla town, has
been the second scene of fighting in North Darfur State, dominated by clashes
between rebel factions.
IDPs from Korma started to arrive in the first week of July, after former rebels
of Minni Minnawi's Sudan Liberation Army/Movement (SLM/A) - who signed a peace
agreement with the Sudanese government on 5 May - attacked their villages in an
attempt to flush out rebels from
Abdelwahid Mohamed Al-Nur's rival SLM/A faction who did not sign the peace deal.
African Union sources reported finding several mass graves, saying at least 80
people had been killed. "Thousands of people might still be displaced in the
Korma area, but humanitarian organisations pulled out after attacks against
them soared, so we don't know what is happening," a United Nations humanitarian
official observed.
EL Salaam has about 43,000 IDPs, while Abu Shouk camp, located just across a dry
riverbed, houses another 54,000.
"I'm 85 years old and nothing like this has never happened to me. This situation
is reducing our lives to a marginalised existence. We need help," Mohamed
Abdulai Saleh said.
Clashes with NRF rebels north of El Fasher have developed into a full-blown
government offensive, but no fleeing villagers have so far arrived in El Salaam
camp. According to the NGO Human Rights Watch, international observers in North
Darfur reported that civilians attempting to flee the Kulkul area in the
direction of El Fasher were turned back by government troops.
Insecurity inside IDP camps
Zam-Zam IDP camp, 15 kilometres south of El Fasher, housing another 40,000 IDPs,
has also felt the impact of the deteriorating security situation and the
escalation of fighting between the SLM/A factions of Minnawi and Al-Nur, west
of El Fasher.
About 4,000 people have arrived in Zam-Zam since early July, having fled
villages south of Tawilla and west of Tabit after a direct attack when Minnawi
tried to consolidate control over this area.
"Initially, we used to support our brothers in the movement [Minnawi's SLM/A]
with food, but at some point they started to arrive heavily armed and demanding
camels and goats and other items. Suddenly they attacked our villages and killed
17 people," a Fur community leader, who requested anonymity, said. "I don't
understand why it got worse and why they started to attack us."
Although life in general is not easy in the camp, the issue on everybody's mind
is security. Of particular concern is that Minnawi's troops patrol Zam-Zam.
This, community leaders said, has made people feel unsafe, even inside the
camp.
"Government soldiers do not come inside the camp because they fear the presence
of Minnawi's fighters, whose armed presence is not allowed by law," community
leader Abakar Idriss Saleh, who fled the volatile area south of Tawilla as
early as March 2004, stressed.
"Their presence is unsafe," he added. "If there is any confrontation between
government and Minnawi forces, the impact will be on the IDPs and they will
suffer."
Calls for protection
Most community leaders inside Zam-Zam support the deployment of a United Nations
peacekeeping force in the region, claiming that neither Al-Nur nor Minnawi
rebels nor the Sudanese government can provide security.
"They just come and go - you cannot count on them - they don't stay. The African
Union troops are of no help, either," he added. "Even if people come into the
camp and take things at gun point, they don't do anything - only an
international force can provide protection."
On 31 August, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution calling for a gradual
transition from the AU mission in Darfur to a stronger UN protection force. But
the deployment of the UN force of 17,500 troops and 3,300 civilian police is
contingent on consent by the government of Sudan, which has so far rejected
calls for a UN force in Darfur.
"When we heard about the peace, we expected to see the impact on the ground, but
the Sudanese government has had no interest in implementing it and our brothers
who signed the peace are still roaming around," Omda Ali Mohamed Fadul, a
community leader said.
An SLM/A commander of Minnawi's faction inside the camp, who declined to be
named, said many people in Zam-Zam had planned to go back to their village to
farm. "When they saw all the recent movement of government troops, they were
afraid another war was starting and they decided not to plant."
Aid workers say they are seriously concerned about a potential influx of another
40,000 IDPs into Zam-Zam camp. "All humanitarian aid agencies pulled out of the
area west of Tabit and south of Tawilla due to insecurity - it is the height of
the hunger-season and the last food distribution in that area was in July," one
aid worker warned.
The recent movement of as many as 50 NRF vehicles into Korma and Tawilla has
sparked rumours of an impending rebel counter-attack that would throw the
volatile region into turmoil once again.
"If a UN force is not deployed any time soon, something much worse is going to
happen here," the SLM/A commander added.
ds/mw/eo
[ENDS]
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Khalid Kodi
فيس بوك
تويتر
انستقرام
يوتيوب
بنتيريست