7000 displaced by Jebel Marra clashes arrive in Tawilla: commissioner

February 16, 2016 (EL-FASHER) – The commissioner of Tawilla locality in North Darfur state Adam Yacoub Jadid said his locality received 7000 people, mostly women and children who have been displaced by the recent conflict in Jebel Marra.

Since last January, the government forces launched a large scale offensive on the Sudan Liberation Movement – Abdel Wahid al-Nur (SLM-AW) positions in Jebel Marra, accusing the rebels of looting and attacking civilian, military and commercial convoys in the area.

The Sudanese officials refused to stop the military operation saying the group is not part of the peace process.

Jadid told Sudan Tribune Tuesday that the IDP’s came from 13 villages in the locality of Kebkabiya in North Darfur state and 7 villages in the locality of Rokro in Central Darfur state.

On Monday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the hostilities in the Jebel Marra have forced thousands of civilians to flee the mountainous area that straddles three Darfur states, many walking for miles with no food or water.

OCHA said it provided assistance to 38,000 IDP’s in three locations in North Darfur including 23,000 in Sortony, 13,000 in Tawilla and over 1,000 in Kebkabiya town.

The commissioner added that he formed an emergency committee under the chairmanship of the legislative council, saying the committee includes the executive director of the locality, chiefs of the IDP’s camps, local and foreign aid groups and woman and youth organizations.

He pointed that the original villages of the IDP’s in Central Darfur and North Darfur states were not impacted by the clashes except two, saying that the villagers have panicked and fled their homes.

Jadid further stressed that the foreign and local aid groups have provided health services for the IDP’s.

(ST)