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Thousands Need Help After Clashes in Sudan's West Darfur - UN

Violence in the West Darfur capital of El Geneina has stopped after days of deadly ethnic and tribal clashes, but people who fled their homes urgently need food, water, shelter, and sanitation, the United Nations refugee agency says. No shootings have been reported over the past four days, according to a statement released on April 15, 2021 by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), but the fighting displaced thousands of people, many of whom have taken refuge in scores of sites across El Geneina. The number of people affected by the conflict between Arab and Masalit fighters is still unclear as official assessments have yet to take place. More than 1,800 people fled into neighboring Chad since the recent clashes erupted on April 3, "bringing the total number to 5,000 including those who fled since January," said the U.N. statement.

The conflict in Darfur broke out in 2003 when the government of then-president Omar al-Bashir empowered Arab militias to fight rebel groups. The conflict resulted in the killing of hundreds of thousands of civilians and the displacement of more than two million people. The transitional government that followed Al-Bashir's ouster in April 2019 signed peace agreements with rebel groups. Earlier this year, the conflict between Arab and non-Arab groups in El Geneina flared up again, resulting in the death of 129 people and the displacement of 108,000 residents.

InFocus

Hamid Abdulsalam/UNAMID

A panoramic view of al Geneina in West Darfur, Sudan, where the inter-communal violence is reported to have started.

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