Khartoum
A heavy Sudanese troop presence helped restore calm on Tuesday in the Darfur region, local sources said, after three days of inter-ethnic violence which claimed at least 155 lives and displaced tens of thousands.
The transitional government in the capital Khartoum has deployed military units to the remote region, where the recent end of a joint United Nation and African Union peacekeeping mission raised fears of more bloodshed.
Violence erupted Saturday between Arab nomads and members of the non-Arab Massalit ethnic group in El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur, killing at least 100 people and wounding more than 130, said state governor Mohamed Abdalla Al-Douma.
The clashes prompted some 50,000 people to flee areas in and around a camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) who were driven from their homes in previous conflicts, said aid group Save the Children.
Authorities in West Darfur have imposed a statewide curfew as troops arrived there from Khartoum and other parts of Sudan to restore order.
“There have been no clashes since Sunday, but there were incidents of looting, especially of houses and farms of people living at the Kerindig IDP camp,” Douma told AFP.
“The situation is calm in the state as security forces have spread in and around the city of El Geneina and Kerindig.”
Douma said houses were burned and farm produce stolen in villages near El Geneina, but added that “we sent security to surround these villages and they are now secure.”
Separate clashes on Monday in South Darfur between members of the Fallata ethnic group and the Arab Rizeigat tribe killed at least 55 people and wounded 37.
A heavy troops presence has also restored order there, the official SUNA news agency reported. Tribal leader Mohamed Saleh told AFP by phone that “the situation is calm today in our village in South Darfur. There are no clashes. But he said people were “tense, fearing the renewed outbreak of violence.”—AFP
