PANAPRESS
Panafrican News Agency
Sudan: 14 killed in recent regional clash in West Darfur, situation now under control
Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) - At least 14 people were killed and 19 others, including 6 policemen, were injured in Genaina, capital of west Darfur state, when angry villagers stormed a number of local government buildings.
In the first government comment on the death toll, Gen. Atif Fadul, the Director of West Darfur State Police, told the independent daily al Sudan, on Saturday that 14 civilians were killed, and 13 other were injured beside 6 persons from the regular forces.
Riots in the regional capital were sparked by a demonstration of an estimated 1,000 people from Mulli village arriving in West Darfur State capital Genaina. The villagers were seeking protection against a tribe that attacked their village earlier this week, the UN Office of the Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its weekly bulletin this week. In the commotion, a number of persons were killed or injured.
But the Director of the police in West Darfur has stressed that his force did not use any fire power to disperse the protesters.
“The police did not fire a single shot”, the daily quoted Gen. Fadul as saying. He said with the huge crowds in the government building, the results would have been a massacre, had the police used fire to disperse them.
OCHA added that the UN received on 11 January reports that these newly displaced persons left the Governor's office premises for the Abu Zar internally displaced persons camp (IDP) in Genaina town.
According to the weekly bulletin, OCHA and humanitarian partners are verifying this information amid the tense security situation in the area while there are reports of additional civilians on the move between Mulli and Genaina, while the plight of those who are still in Mulli village remains of particular concern.
The AU-UN peace keeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) earlier in the week issued a statement expressed concern over the rising tension in the area, calling on the various parties to exercise restraint. It said an investigation should be launched and perpetrators held accountable.
The official news agency said the situation has now been brought under control and tension defused through government and native administration intervention.
Meanwhile, Khartoum media, including SUNA news agency, reported that a committee headed by Federal Rule Minister Faisal Hassan Ibrahim has been formed to investigate the Genaina incidents.
-0- PANA MO/VAO 16Jan2016
In the first government comment on the death toll, Gen. Atif Fadul, the Director of West Darfur State Police, told the independent daily al Sudan, on Saturday that 14 civilians were killed, and 13 other were injured beside 6 persons from the regular forces.
Riots in the regional capital were sparked by a demonstration of an estimated 1,000 people from Mulli village arriving in West Darfur State capital Genaina. The villagers were seeking protection against a tribe that attacked their village earlier this week, the UN Office of the Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its weekly bulletin this week. In the commotion, a number of persons were killed or injured.
But the Director of the police in West Darfur has stressed that his force did not use any fire power to disperse the protesters.
“The police did not fire a single shot”, the daily quoted Gen. Fadul as saying. He said with the huge crowds in the government building, the results would have been a massacre, had the police used fire to disperse them.
OCHA added that the UN received on 11 January reports that these newly displaced persons left the Governor's office premises for the Abu Zar internally displaced persons camp (IDP) in Genaina town.
According to the weekly bulletin, OCHA and humanitarian partners are verifying this information amid the tense security situation in the area while there are reports of additional civilians on the move between Mulli and Genaina, while the plight of those who are still in Mulli village remains of particular concern.
The AU-UN peace keeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) earlier in the week issued a statement expressed concern over the rising tension in the area, calling on the various parties to exercise restraint. It said an investigation should be launched and perpetrators held accountable.
The official news agency said the situation has now been brought under control and tension defused through government and native administration intervention.
Meanwhile, Khartoum media, including SUNA news agency, reported that a committee headed by Federal Rule Minister Faisal Hassan Ibrahim has been formed to investigate the Genaina incidents.
-0- PANA MO/VAO 16Jan2016
