2500 IDPs due to recent tribal fighting in North Darfur: HAC
July 21, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) said that an estimated 2,500 people were displaced to Mellit town after fleeing their homes in North Darfur’s Mellit locality due to tribal clashes which took place on 7 July.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), HAC said the fighting affected the villages of En Addess, Hillet Hamid, Helat Abdul Rahim, Abu Gira, Hillet Bambatefi, and Helat Ashaba.
OCHA pointed that those villages were all reportedly burnt to the ground and abandoned; stressing the situation is now calm with no reports of additional fighting.
It added that the government has setup a committee to mediate between the tribes.
However, the bulletin didn’t name the conflicting tribes.
Earlier this month, North Darfur governor Abel-Wahid Ibrahim formed a committee to investigate clashes between the Barti and Zayadia tribes and to consider ways to deploy a joint force from the army and the police.
On 24 March, the two tribes signed a cessation of hostilities document and it was announced that a probe commission has been formed to investigate the clashes, however the fragile truce collapsed a day after its signing and the deadly clashes were renewed.
The bulletin added that on 12 July, HAC in collaboration with local authorities began delivering aid supplies to the displaced people in Mellit town, saying Humanitarian partners will soon commence delivery of response supplies and services.
It further pointed that a rapid response kit from the World Health Organization (WHO) has already been delivered, sufficient for 3,000 patients for three months.
Tribal fighting has intensified in four of Darfur’s five states during the past two years leading to thousands of deaths and injuries and forcing over 300,000 people to flee their homes.
They are usually triggered by land disputes, pasture rights and fighting over water resources. More than 7,000 people were killed in those clashes since 2007.
(ST)