Gunmen cross into West Darfur from Chad

January 14, 2023 (EL GENEINA) – Security sources revealed on Saturday that dozens of armed men crossed the border with Chad and camped inside West Darfur areas, but the state government said that they are combatants of a group signatory of the Juba peace agreement.

A Sudanese military official told Sudan Tribune that residents in the border areas of “Abu Ardiba, Bir Salaibeh and Al-Taweel” north of El Geneina, capital of West Darfur state, informed the government forces that they had seen dozens of gunmen riding motorcycles and carrying heavy weapons arriving from Chad and stationed inside the Sudanese territories.

The official who got the information from troops deployed on the ground pointed out that the border areas witnessed inter-communal attacks and looting across the border.

However, West Darfur Deputy Governor, Tijani Tahir Karshom said the gunmen are members of some armed movements that signed the Juba Agreement, but stopped short of naming them.

“Certain groups signatories of the peace agreement recently massed their forces at the border without notifying the state authorities,” he said.

It is not clear how the troop reached the areas. Also, Sudan Tribune sought in vain to know if the former rebels were already inside the country or arrived from outside Sudan.

UN reports say some signatories still have troops working as mercenaries in Libya.

Karshom said the Arab nomads residing in the border strip feared clashes with the incoming forces, adding that the state authorities deployed additional in the area to avoid clashes between the two sides.

“The situation is now under control, as the forces withdrew to their areas north of the border,” he added.

Over the past three years, tribal violence flared in West Darfur claiming the lives of hundreds of people and displacing thousands.

(ST)