Daily Darfur: Mayhem from North to South

Violent clashes continue in both North and South Darfur, following the government's usual M.O. of targeting civilians in their counterinsurgency campaign against Darfur rebel groups.

The South

Human Rights Watch reported yesterday that over a dozen villages were attacked by Sudanese forces and allied militias near Muhajariya, South Darfur, between October 5 and 17, resulting in over 40 civilian casualties.

“Once again, civilians are bearing the brunt of fighting in Darfur, and the peacekeepers cannot protect them,” said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “Life in Darfur is far from ‘normal.’” 

Referring to Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir's claims that Darfur is calm, and to his supposed-attempts to negotiate peace in the region in the wake of a possible ICC indictment, Gagnon continued, “President Bashir’s claims about the situation in Darfur should convince no one. But whether or not the fighting continues, the victims of past atrocities deserve to see those responsible prosecuted.”

Reuters characterized the fighting as local "tribal" disputes over cattle, stating, "Analysts who follow Darfur say the Zaghawa tribe has settled in areas including Muhajiriya and demanded ownership of land, ignoring the rights of historical owners who include Maaliya."

I don't usually have problems with Reuters' reporting, but this particular article seems a bit weak to me. Note the lack of attribution for "analysts." Many Darfur "analysts" have different "analyses"--for instance, "analysts" in the Sudanese government deny any involvement in the fighting. I have no way of knowing if the claim about the land dispute is true or not, but I tend to trust HRW's analysis over most others--especially when other reports neglect to provide the source of their information. And given the bulk of reporting coming out of Darfur as of late, it seems far more likely that the violence is part of the government's "counterinsurgency" (i.e. cover for genocide) campaign, rather than purely local cattle disputes.

Again: Not saying it's not true. I just want more information on who's-saying-what.

The North

Two rebel groups vowed retaliation after attacks by Sudanese government forces in North Darfur.

"Suleiman Jamous, a leader of a faction of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) in north Darfur, said the two sides clashed when they confronted each other 'by accident' on a road near the area of Anabaji."

(How do you confront an army by accident?)

The commander of another SLA faction said that a rebel base was taken by government forces on Thursday night. A spokesman for the Sudanese military--who really should change his title to "Obstruction Specialist," or "Brick Wall," or at the very least, "Feigner of Ignorance"--"could not confirm the incident, but said the army had troops operating in north Darfur."

For two perspectives on the humanitarian situation in the region: Darfuri Khaled Abdel Muti Ali on life in a Darfur refugee camp (it's not Disney Land, that's for sure), and my co-blogger Michael Kleinman on the impact of the deteriorating security situation on relief workers.

[Photo from AFP, map from MSF.]