UN calls to implement plan to protect civilians after West Darfur bloody violence
March 12, 2022 (KHARTOUM) – The UN mission in Sudan on Saturday called to implement a plan to protect civilians in Darfur after the resumption of violence in the volatile Jebel Moon area of West Darfur state.
On March 10, 19 people have been killed and five others injured in the latest clashes between local villagers of Misseriya and Arenga tribal groups and armed Arab groups.
The Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors (CCSD) said that between 7 and 10 March 35 people were killed in bloody attacks.
The UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) head on Saturday called on “all parties to work towards the implementation of the National Plan on Civilian Protection which the UN supports”.
Volker Perthes was referring to an agreement released by the government and the United Nations to form a 12,000 force to protect civilians in Darfur after the withdrawal of the UNAMID.
After the signing of the Juba Peace Agreement in October 2020, the government and the peace signatory groups agreed that the government would deploy 6,000 security personnel while the signatory groups will contribute with 6,000 fighters.
But the plan has never been implemented due to the lack of means despite the partial and occasional deployment of troops in response to the surge of violence in the region and particularly in West Darfur.
After referring to the national plan for civilian protection, Perthes further stressed that his mission will support the “Transitional Government by helping to create a protective environment”.
The CCSD condemned the “suspicious silence” of the state authorities and their inability to stop the bloody attacks, stressing that the violence confirms the failure of the state
“The Committee condemns in the strongest terms attacks on unarmed civilians and the burning of houses, amid the suspicious silence and total inability of the state authorities to these massacres, which fully confirm the regression of the situation to the state of no state,” stressed the group.
The West Darfur officials say have no means to confront the well equipped tribal gunmen.
They add they have asked the national authorities to provide them with the needed security forces and military weapons including helicopters, but their request went unheeded.
In a statement issued after the recent attack, the Misseriya Tribe High Council held the governor of West Darfur, the governor of the Darfur region and the Sovereignty Council responsible for the killing of the civilians in Jebel Moon.
The tribal body further called for a transparent investigation into the military equipment used in the attack and to bring those involved to justice.
The statement was alluding to allegations that Darfur Arab tribes have been empowered after the fall of the al-Bashir regime and the appointment of their son Mohamed Hamdan Daglo as Deputy Chairman of the Sovereign Council.
(ST)