Residents escape militia attack on west Sudan town
By Nima Elbagir
KHARTOUM, March 21 (Reuters) – Arab militia fighters attacked a town in Sudan’s arid western Darfur region sending many people fleeing, an aid official and a witness said on Sunday.
A local businessman who witnessed the events but declined to be named said the militia fighters executed 49 people — including nine people hanged — in Korma town for collaborating with rebels and also looted and burned parts of the town.
The Sudanese government declined to comment.
Two rebel groups launched a revolt against the government in Darfur in February 2003. They accuse the government of neglecting the region and arming Arab “Janjaweed” militia who loot and burn African villages.
The businessman, who spoke by telephone from the area, said the Janjaweed burst into the town around 60 miles northeast of Kebkabiya and 720 miles southwest of Khartoum, early on Thursday.
“They (Janjaweed) executed 49 people whom they accused of collaborating with the rebels. Nine were hanged. One tree had three people hanging from it, and the 40 others were shot in the town center,” he said.
“They burned two neighborhoods in Korma town, which had mainly African tribes living in them. They also burned four surrounding villages,” he added.
A local aid official also said people were fleeing the area after executions during an attack by Arab militia.
One government official, who did not wish to be named, told Reuters the authorities had no official comment about Janjaweed activities and referred to an earlier government statement which said officials considered the militia fighters outlaws.
In a separate incident, rebels from the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) said they had killed around 100 Janjaweed fighters who had attacked a rebel garrison on Saturday.
SLM spokesman Muhamed Mursal also said the rebels had heard reports of the killings in Korma.
“DARFUR NOT RWANDA”
Sudan will present an official complaint to the United Nations over statements by the organization’s humanitarian coordinator for Sudan, Mukesh Kapila, that the situation in Darfur is reminiscent of the Rwandan genocide.
“The Sudanese government wishes to know whether these statements are an expression of the U.N.’s position toward the situation in Sudan or whether it is the private opinion of the resident humanitarian coordinator,” State Minister for Foreign Affairs Najeeb al-Kheir Abdul Wahab told Reuters.
The United Nations warns of a humanitarian crisis in Darfur and estimates one million people are affected by the fighting with more than 100,000 refugees fleeing over the border to Chad.
Abdul Wahab also said one of two Chinese engineers Sudan said had been kidnapped by rebels last week was now with officials and in contact with the Chinese embassy in Khartoum.
Abdul Wahab said one of the men had been released by the kidnappers and one had escaped. One of the men wandered into rebel-held territory, where he was recaptured, and state authorities were in pursuit of the kidnappers.
It was not clear whether the Chinese engineer with Sudanese authorities was the man who had been freed or the man who had escaped.