Fear and mourning after the attack on a village in South Darfur

A veil of darkness hangs over Adam Omar’s house in a remote village in South Darfur, Sudan; he lost seven members of his family, including two sons, in recent tribal clashes.

Omar, 75, is from the Fallata tribe, one of the many African ethnic minorities who have suffered the most from a devastating civil war against the Arab-dominated government of now ousted President Omar al-Bashir.

Although the main conflict has subsided, Omar has witnessed numerous clashes between his people and rival Arab tribes, often bringing back dark memories of the 2003 fighting, which left 300,000 dead and 2.5 million displaced.

His village of Al-Twail Saadoun saw a further upsurge in violence on January 18 when heavily armed members of the rival Arab tribe Rzeigat drove motorcycles, camels and horses through the village, killing around 60 people and injuring dozens.

They also burned down houses and shops in the attack and looted agricultural land vital to the local population.

“I lost seven members of my family in these clashes,” Omar told AFP outside his thatched wooden hut in the village, some 85 kilometers south of Nyala, the capital of South Darfur.

The attack left some of the resident’s basic wooden huts completely burnt to the ground. By ASHRAF SHAZLY (AFP)

“None of the perpetrators have yet been arrested.”

The attack came just two weeks after the end of the United Nations and African Union peacekeeping mission, UNAMID, after more than a decade.

Government troops have been stationed on the outskirts of the village to prevent further attacks.

But during the AFP visit, residents were vigilant and nervous, moving through the dusty streets in groups of three or four, batons in hand or knives strapped to their waists.

Round patches of scorched earth showed where the huts were before they were set on fire. In one, a scorched metal bed frame was all that was left.

‘Stolen cows’

It all started with an argument over the stolen cattle on January 4.

“Members of our tribe had gone to bring water from a nearby well when they realized that several of their cows were missing,” said Ibrahim Younes, the mayor of the village, sitting in the dappled shade of his hut. .

“They followed in the footsteps of the animals, which led them to one of the villages of the Rzeigat Arab tribe, who agreed to return the cows.”

But it didn’t stop there.

Over the next few days, members of Rzeigat killed two Fallata herders and attacked a village in Fallata, according to Younes.

The people of Fallata village are heavily dependent on their livestock and agricultural land. By ASHRAF SHAZLY (AFP)

The Rzeigat, who according to state media appeared to avenge Fallata’s murder of one of their young men, attempted to attack Al-Twail Saadoun but government troops prevented them.

A few days later, on January 18, the Rzeigat noticed that these troops were not present and seized the opportunity to attack, Younes said.

The fighting lasted three hours, according to witnesses.

Some villagers claimed that some of the attackers carried heavy weapons and wore military uniforms similar to those of the powerful rapid support paramilitary forces.

The group, led by Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, a prominent member of Sudan’s post-Bashir governing body, is largely made up of notorious Janjaweed militias from nomadic Arab tribes.

Rights groups have long accused the Janjaweed of committing atrocities in the 2003 conflict in Darfur.

A tribal leader from Rzeigat told AFP that “we as a tribe did not organize this attack.”

“The people who realized it were out of control and could be from other tribes.”

Neither RSF nor the army could be immediately contacted for comment.

‘Neutral force’

The Al-Twail Saadoun attack came just days after similar clashes between rival Arab and non-Arab tribes in neighboring West Darfur state that killed nearly 160 people.

The bloodshed was the deadliest since an October peace deal between the transitional government of Sudan and rebel groups, which raised hopes of ending decades of conflict.

The latest violence does not appear to involve any signatory to the agreement. However, this coincided with the end of the UNAMID mission in Darfur on December 31.

The people of South Darfur have endured years of violence in a civil war that began in 2003. By ASHRAF SHAZLY (AFP)

UNAMID has since undertaken a gradual withdrawal of its 8,000 uniformed and civilian personnel within six months.

Darfurians have protested his departure, fearing an increase in violence, but residents of Al-Twail Saadoun say the attack on their village could have taken place even if it had been present.

“UNAMID did not organize patrols around our village,” said Younes.

“They only surrendered to write investigative reports after the attacks.”

The transitional government of Sudan has deployed troops to protect the village.

But after the recent violence in Darfur which left more than 200 dead, the inhabitants of the village remain in fear.

“These militias want to push us out of our villages by repeatedly launching these attacks,” said one of them, Ibrahim Eissa.

Younes said the villagers could never trust government forces.

“They include the RSF, whose members often fight with their own tribes,” he said. “We want a neutral force to protect us.”