In recent weeks, a series of violent attacks have occurred in El Geneina, a city in Sudan’s Darfur region, leading to the death of at least 280 people. Gunmen on motorcycles, horses, and cars wreaked havoc, shooting into homes, burning down clinics, attacking shops, and rampaging the area for hours. Although a commitment to protect civilians and allow humanitarian aid was signed by two factions that have been battling for power in Sudan just hours before the attacks, violence has not ceased.
The conflict between the Sudanese army and its rival, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, intensified on April 15 and has resulted in the displacement of more than 370,000 people in the past seven weeks alone. Peace talks in Saudi Arabia last week were officially suspended, leaving the region largely bereft of help.
Over the years, Darfur has been suffering from genocidal violence, making the situation in the area described as ‘a dystopian nightmare where there is no law and order’ by the coordinator in Darfur for the United Nations refugee agency. According to refugees fleeing to neighboring countries, the militants who attacked El Geneina were backed by the paramilitary forces and met with fierce armed resistance from some of the city’s residents who were provided with weapons by the army.
During the conflict, scores of markets were destroyed, dozens of aid camps were burned, and health facilities were shut down. As militants shot at unarmed civilians and artillery rained from the sky, thousands began to flee the city. However, the snipers killed some of these refugees, leaving their bodies in the streets, which became piled with corpses under the scorching 100-degree heat. Interviews conducted with two dozen displaced people, humanitarian workers, United Nations officials, and analysts reveal that the region is in an unprecedented state of violence that the cease-fire agreements cannot contain.
Despite the evacuation of U.N. staff and international humanitarian workers from the region, fighting resumed swiftly, causing disarray among the civilians regardless of their ethnicity. The situation has intensified because the two sides are fighting over control of key installations such as military bases and the airport. The escalating violence caused many people to become food insecure, unable to reach safe regions, or access cash to purchase food, water, and fuel whose prices have skyrocketed.
Observers say that the situation is likely to deteriorate because aid workers are unable to obtain visas to get into Sudan, and the price of food, water, and fuel continues to rise. As the embattled region drifts towards vicious protracted warfare, many residents have been forced to flee to neighboring African countries, such as Chad, which is now home to scores of refugees telling harrowing stories of their escape.
The UN refugee agency coordinator in Darfur states that the people in Darfur are “living in a dystopian nightmare where there is no law and order,” where violence thrives and women are raped and abused with no medical or social support.
Several leaders from both opposing sides were perpetrators of the 300,000 deaths in Darfur since 2003. African farmers and nomadic Arab herders clash over scant resources and land. The region initially enjoyed a small window of peace after a cease-fire agreement was brokered by community leaders, civil society organizations, and regional political leaders, but fighting resumed almost immediately afterward.
The situation in El Geneina
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