Inter-communal violence breaks out in the Sudanese conflict with dozens of deaths in Western Darfur

Fighting between the Army and the RSF triggers a new wave of violence between Arabs and Masalit in the city of El Geneina

Doctors Without Borders and the United Nations denounce the complete looting of their centers in the town

29 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –

Dozens of people have been killed during inter-communal clashes this week between Arab and Masalit tribes in the capital of the Sudanese state of West Darfur, in a new wave of grudge-matches taking advantage of the chaos unleashed by fighting between the Sudanese army and paramilitaries. Rapid Support Forces (RSF), concentrated in the capital, Khartoum.

The Sudanese Medical Committee, which has denounced that most of the city’s hospitals have been rendered useless, as well as local Sudanese media such as Radio Dabasanga present in the city, estimate that a total of approximately 90 people have died in the city during the last week.

First, due to the skirmishes between the military and paramilitaries on Monday, which resulted in some 25 deaths. However, on Tuesday the violence took on a purely tribal aspect and accumulated deaths between both sides as well as among the civilian population. Activists in the area have perceived a certain decrease in confrontations in the last hours, although they warn that this past night has been the scene of sporadic confrontations.

The conflict between the two communities dates back to approximately the 1980s and has always been fueled by crises of violence that have been occurring since then in the country until the outbreak of the conflict between the Army and paramilitaries. The experts of the Darfur24 portal recall in this regard that two of the last waves of confrontations, in 2020 and 2021, resulted in more than 450 deaths, almost 530 injuries and thousands of displaced persons.

DEVASTATION

The humanitarian organizations still present in Western Darfur speak of a scene of devastation in El Geneina. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) recounts the looting of the university hospital with which it collaborates and that the main medical reference center in the capital for the surrounding communities has been “directly affected by the clashes.”

Tribal fighting, adds MSF, has also reached the city’s central market, as well as centers for displaced people who are desperately trying to cross the 20 kilometers that separate the city from the border into Chad; about 20,000 from the outbreak of the fighting until last Monday. MSF recalls that it has already had to suspend its activities in South Darfur and that activities in Western Darfur have been “drastically reduced”.

The UN Assistant Secretary for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths, has also confirmed in recent hours on his Twitter account that El Geneina’s was one of the UN offices looted during the violence in Sudan, along with those of Khartoum and Nyala. “This is unacceptable and is prohibited by international humanitarian law. Attacks on humanitarian assets must stop,” he protested.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, has also been able to confirm that El Geneina was plunging into chaos with “clashes, looting and burning houses.” “They have looted markets, as well as the premises of various humanitarian organizations. Most of the health centers are not working,” added OCHA.

Radio Dabasanga collects local information that describes the situation as “catastrophic”, with dozens of houses burned “to the ground” and without electricity or water supply.

Combatant leaders such as the sultan of the Masalit tribe, Saad Bahreldin, have acknowledged that the streets of the city are dotted with corpses and condemned the passivity of both the Army and the RSF for “staying on the sidelines” despite the fact that both sides assure that each it is defending the interests of the Sudanese people as a whole.

The press office of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) limited itself to reporting on its Twitter account on Thursday that “local authorities are dealing with a tribal conflict”, without giving further details.