Investigation body on North Darfur clashes recommends arrest of culprits

August 14, 2021 (KHARTOUM) – An investigation committee on recent clashes in North Darfur between Arab militia and Juba Peace Agreement’s armed signatory groups has recommended arresting the responsible for the violence and collecting weapons.

On 7 August, Deadly fighting erupted in Kalogui near Tawila locality in North Darfur between combatants of the Gathering of Sudan Liberation Forces (GSLF) and the Arab tribes. It was reported that three were killed and dozens wounded but there was no official statement.

Following this incident, Arab gunmen gathered around Tawila preparing to attack the GSLF fighters who were almost from the Zaghawa ethnic group. The transitional government, for its part, formed a national investigation committee that immediately travelled to El-Fasher to prevent further escalation.

On Sunday, the Head of the National Investigation Committee Mohamed al-Hassan Eltaishi held a press conference in El-Fasher to announce their recommendations to establish security and achieve stability in North Darfur.

“Parties should avoid verbal escalation, impose the authority of the state, arrest the perpetrators and bring them to justice, and provide full support to solve problems,” reads a statement released by the North Darfur State after the press conference.

Also, the committee recommended collecting weapons, support the displaced people who fled their areas after the clashes.

Eltaishi further called the residents of the Kalogui and Gallab areas to accept each other and promote peaceful coexistence.

The Arab accused the GSLF fighters of attacking them in support of their tribe people while the latter say they were heading to join a gathering site when they were ambushed by the Arab gunmen.

The Arab tribes after the tribal clashes in EL-Genina the capital of West Darfur earlier this year had accused the former rebels of supporting the IDPs while Rapid Support Forces (RSF) were accused of backing the Arabs.

Suleiman Sandal Political Secretary of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) who is a member of the investigation committee expressed said there is no return to war and expressed their return to implement the Juba Peace Agreement despite these challenges.

He denied that the peace agreement was limited to a particular tribe adding that it was “an agreement for all the Sudanese people,” and the armed groups are part of the government forces working under the command of the state security committee to protect civilians.

The Sudanese government last July decided to deploy the joint forces which include the former rebels to protect farmers during the farming seasons.

RSF Second Commander Abel Rahim Dalgo, for his part, reassured that the joint forces are now deployed in the clash zones to prevent any hostilities.

On 10 August, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan Head of Sovereign Council announced the launch of the security arrangements implementation, 10 months after the signing of the Juba peace agreement.

The former regime conducted several operations to disarm civilians and collect weapons. However, the Arab herders who were used by the al-Bashir regime to fight the rebel groups clashed with other ethnic groups many times in different parts of Darfur.

(ST)