11 killed in South Darfur attacks says state government
December 25, 2022 (NYALA) – South Darfur said on Sunday they arrested gunmen involved in bloody attacks on several villages outside the state capital and confirmed the death of 11 people, including two security soldiers.
Earlier this week, armed men attacked several villages outside Belail locality east of the capital, Nyala, to revenge an ambush on herders last week.
The attacks which resulted in the death of nine civilians were largely condemned.
On Saturday, the state government declared a state of emergency in the state and a curfew in the locality fearing the extension of the conflict to other areas.
Following a meeting of the state security committee on Sunday, South Darfur Police Director Maj Gen Mohamed Ahmed Wad al-Zein announced the arrest of several people presumably involved in the attack.
“Two motorcycles carrying a number of gunmen and armed men riding in two vehicles have been arrested and transferred to the Belail police station, and we firmly believe that they are involved in the attacks,” stated Wad al-Zein.
The security official added that the death toll from the attacks reached 11 dead, including a policeman and an element of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The latter was killed with stones by angry civilians on the Nyala El-Fasher road.
Also, he said that seven villages were vandalized and homes were burned and looted.
The villagers who fled the survived the attacks accuse the RSF, led by the deputy head of the Transitional Sovereignty Council, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo “Hemetti”, of participating in the attacks on their villages outside Belail.
Videos circulating on social media showed heavily armed men riding 4WD vehicles attacking the villages.
For his part, the Governor of South Darfur, Hamid Tijani Hannoun, stated that they deployed about 58 military vehicles and 400 members of the police, army, intelligence service and RSF to restore security in the area.
He stressed that the State Security Committee is able to protect civilians, and directed the Humanitarian Aid Commission and all organizations to provide urgent aid to those affected by these attacks.
20,000 displaced
South Sudan officials told Sudan Tribune that the initial estimates of those displaced by the bloody events exceed 20,000 people.
“The displaced people who took refuge outside Belail municipality buildings and the Driej camp in Nyala, are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance,” said the officials who preferred not to be identified.
IDPs Coordination Spokesman, Adam Rajal told Sudan Tribune that three missing people were found, including a child.
Rajal further denied the police officer’s account of the number of burned villages, saying they were 12, and not seven, accusing the state government of failing to provide safe passages for villagers fleeing to Nyala and Belail.
(ST)