At least 168 people murdered in Sudan’s Darfur area

According to an aid organisation, clashes between competing factions in Sudan’s Darfur killed at least 168 people on Sunday, the latest outbreak of deadly violence in the restive area.

Darfur has experienced an increase in fatal fighting since October last year, spurred by disputes mostly over land, cattle, and access to water and pasture. Darfur was wrecked by civil war that started in 2003.

According to Adam Regal, a spokesman for the General Coordination for Refugees and Displaced in Darfur, the current violence began on Friday in the Krink district of West Darfur. “At least 168 people were murdered and 98 others were injured on Sunday,” Regal added, expressing concern that the death toll may grow.

Armed tribesmen assaulted settlements of the non-Arab Massalit minority in reprisal for the killing of two tribesmen, according to the relief organisation.

According to the report, at least eight individuals were murdered on Friday.

Multiple dead were seen in communities in the Krink area, which is 80 kilometres (50 miles) from West Darfur’s province seat, Geneina, according to a tribal elder from the Massalit community.

Medics from the Sudan Doctors’ Central Committee warned of “catastrophic” health conditions in West Darfur, claiming that violence has targeted multiple facilities.

The International Committee of the Red Cross has urged authorities to guarantee that wounded people arrive at hospitals safely.

Volker Perthes, the UN special envoy, denounced the deaths and demanded an inquiry.

Images shared on social media on Sunday showed burnt dwellings spewing thick black smoke into the sky, as well as scorched land where cottages formerly stood before being set ablaze.

Regal said the militiamen had in recent weeks “committed killings, burning, lootings, and torture without mercy”.

The conflict that erupted in 2003 pitted ethnic minority rebels who complained of discrimination against the Arab-dominated government of then-president Omar al-Bashir.

Bashir’s government responded by unleashing the Janjaweed, mainly recruited from Arab pastoralist tribes, who were blamed for atrocities including murder, rape, looting and burning villages.

The fighting killed 300,000 people and displaced 2.5 million, according to UN figures.

The validity of the photographs could not be independently verified by Agence France-Presse.

The humanitarian organisation accused Arab Janjaweed militias of perpetrating the latest attacks on Sunday.

In the early 2000s, the mostly Arab militia acquired recognition for its participation in the repression of an ethnic minority revolt in Darfur.

According to rights groups, many of its members have subsequently been absorbed into the dreaded paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, who are led by General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, Sudan’s de facto deputy president.

Although the major fighting in Darfur has receded, the country remains awash in weaponry, and fatal skirmishes sometimes occur over access to pasture or water.

Following months of huge protests against his administration, Bashir was deposed in April 2019. The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for him in connection with the Darfur crisis.

According to the UN and medical personnel, dozens of people have been killed and hundreds of homes have been set ablaze in Darfur in recent months.

Following last year’s military coup headed by army leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, which stalled a transition to complete civilian administration following Bashir’s resignation, the new violence has mirrored a larger security collapse in Darfur.

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