One person was killed and another wounded in renewed shooting in El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur State, which witnessed a few days ago a wave of tribal violence that killed more than 200 people and displaced thousands.
This coincides with the visit of a government delegation to the region in order to work to calm the security situation, and the announcement by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti), Vice-President of the Transitional Sovereignty Council, yesterday, Wednesday, that there was a "failure" on the part of the state to contain the violent incidents in the state.
Since last Friday, the El Geneina and Karinak areas of West Darfur have witnessed tribal clashes that have killed more than 200 people, in addition to wounding 103 others, according to statements by the state’s governor, Khamis Abkar Abdullah, and left nearly 20,000 people displaced, according to what the NGO Darfur Lawyers Association confirmed. .
The governor of the state, Khamis Abdullah, denied - in a press statement - the outbreak of new clashes in El Geneina, stressing that the security situation in the area is "stable."
Abdullah explained that the gunshots that were heard in the city yesterday evening were warning shots from the security forces at a checkpoint and observation point, which did not cause any injuries.
And earlier yesterday, Wednesday, a government delegation comprising a member of the Sovereign Council Abdel-Baqi Abdel-Qader, Defense Minister Lieutenant-General Yassin Ibrahim Yassin and Health Minister Haitham Mohamed Ibrahim arrived in El-Geneina, where they held a meeting to review the recent events in the region, according to the Sudanese News Agency. .
The authorities had decided last Monday to send troops to contain the tribal fighting in the state.
Acknowledgment of responsibility
On the other hand, Vice-President of the Transitional Sovereign Council, Muhammad Hamdan Hemedti, acknowledged yesterday, Wednesday, that there was a "negligence" on the part of government agencies in containing the violent incidents.
Hemedti said - in a speech to him at one of the Ramadan Iftars - "there is a failure by the state in surrounding the events of Karinak and the events of West Darfur, and I do not excuse myself from bearing responsibility for the events," according to what the Sudanese News Agency reported.
He added that "all the parties involved in the events in West Darfur are victims of malicious plans prepared by (unnamed) parties hostile to Sudan and are implementing them."
Hemedti called for "standing for self-reflection and looking into the strife and mutual killing that has lasted for 3 years in all states of Sudan," noting that a "higher committee to investigate" the events in West Darfur will be formed, headed by the Attorney General, stressing "the need to reach the perpetrators and impose the most severe penalties on them." ".
In turn, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights condemned earlier the violence that killed dozens of people during 3 days in the state, and demanded the opening of an impartial and independent investigation into the attacks, which it described as "horrific."
The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, expressed her shock at the outcome of 3 days of violence in the region between Arab and non-Arab tribes.
The head of the United Nations Mission in Sudan, Volker Peretz, also called for an immediate cessation of violence in El Geneina, and revealed - during a press conference - that he had held meetings with the army, armed movements, resistance committees and other entities in order to reach consensus on the transitional phase.
It is noteworthy that many areas in Darfur, western Sudan, witness from time to time bloody clashes between Arab and African tribes within conflicts over land, resources, water and grazing paths.