Jebel Marra fighting displaces over 34 thousands peoples: UN

Displaced Sudanese women set up shelters at the UN’s Zam Zam camp near El Fasher in North Darfur on April 9, 2015 (Photo AFP)

Some 34,000 people have been displaced by the ongoing fighting in the mountainous area of Jebel Marra that straddles three Darfur states, said the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Marta Ruedas, .

In a statement issued from Khartoum on Wednesday, Ruedas expressed "grave concern" over the humanitarian impact of the fighting between the Sudanese army and the Sudan Liberation Movement - Abdel Wahid al-Nur (SLM-AW) in Jebel Marra.
"Initial reports indicate that about 19,000 civilians have fled into North Darfur state, and up to 15,000 into Central Darfur state," she said.


"Unverified reports of other civilians having sought refuge deeper into the Jebel Marra area," she further said.
The international official called for unfettered humanitarian to the civilians in the conflict zones underscoring that the lack of access preventing the immediate provision of emergency aid.
Two armed groups in the region , Justice and Equality Movement and SLM-Minni Minnawi (SLM-MM) during an informal meeting in Ethiopia called on the government to stop the fighting but the latter argued the SLM-AW is refusing to join the peace process.

Speaking about the rapid deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the region, the hybrid peacekeeping mission said the number of civilians seeking refuge in the vicinity of UNAMID’s Sortoni team site, North Darfur, has increased to 14,770, including 1,493 men, 4,097 women and 9,180 children.
’’These figures represent more than 52 per cent increase in just 24 hours which has, reportedly, been caused by intensified aerial bombings carried out during the afternoon of 25 January 2016,’’UNAMID stressed in a statement released on 27 January.

Also, the joint peacekeeping mission received information that 19 villages near Rockero, north Jebel Marra, in Central Darfur, were burned down during fights; most residents of these villages are reported to have fled to Sortoni, Kabkabiya and Tawila, while others have sought shelter in surrounding mountains.

Source- Sudan Tribune