West Darfur declares state of emergency after killing of three people

On Sunday, gunmen killed a man in front of his house in Forbrenga, 200 km south of El-Geneina, after he resisted their attempt to loot his mobile phone. During a search for the culprits, relatives of the Tama tribe arrested an Arab nomad and killed him.

In a separate incident, gunmen allegedly belonging to the Sudanese Alliance group, headed by the governor, killed a twelve-year-old child in El Geneina and fled into the city. Following this, the child’s family members gathered to seek revenge for his murder, prompting a visit by the deputy governor, Tijani Karchoum, to the victim’s family in the “Al-Jabal” neighbourhood.

Karchoum pledged to investigate the incident and bring the perpetrators to trial.

In addition, the state governor Khamis declared a state of public emergency in the entire West Darfur state, starting on Monday, for a renewable month. The decision also stipulated a curfew for a period of two weeks, from 7:00 pm to 7:00 am the next day.

Osman Abkar, a youth leader in Forbrenga, told Sudan Tribune that armed groups of Arab tribes riding motorcycles and camels attacked the eastern neighbourhoods of the town and fired randomly at citizens in response to the killing of one of their sons. They also burned a number of houses, and Abkar confirmed that there were a large number of wounded people.

The revenge attack forced a large number of residents to flee to the centre of the town. He also pointed out the lack of intervention by security and military forces to stop the violence.

The Sudanese Alliance forces denied involvement in the death of the child in El Geneina in a statement, accusing unnamed groups of seeking to tarnish their image. The Alliance further said they had begun legal measures against the parties involved in targeting them. The group also underscored that they are in the cantonment sites and only patrol with joint forces.