Shooting at Nertiti North camp in Central Darfur ‘was no exchange of fire’: Sheikh

A leader of Nertiti North camp for the displaced in Central Darfur has strongly denied to Radio Dabanga that there was an “exchange of fire” at the site, as stated by the UN earlier on Tuesday. The sheikh asserted that a statement by the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan “is invalid and completely untrue”. The UN statement as quoted by Radio Dabanga refers to “an exchange of fire”. The camp leader insists that it was a unilateral shooting by government forces. “All the displaced people of Nertiti know for sure that there were no clashes at the camp,” the sheikh said. “The victims were simply attacked by the government army. What has happened was masterminded by the military and government”. The administration of the camp handed a memorandum to the Commissioner of Nertiti locality regarding the need for cessation of hostilities and the halt of the torching of houses by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). They said “the SAF should leave the camps, or the displaced will, considering that there is no security”. Conflicting reports Hussein Abu Sharati, spokesman for the association of displaced persons and refugees of Darfur, told Radio Dabanga that the administration of the camp delivered the memo on Tuesday. Abu Sharati said the Commissioner assured him that he’ll “solve the issue”. “If the commissioner is going to solve the issue, then we demand a comprehensive solution as soon as possible,” Abu Sharati said. “Substantial numbers of families have begun to leave the camp and move into Nertiti city, or Nertiti South camp”. He described the humanitarian and security situation in the Nertiti area as “very serious”, and called on the United Nations and the Security Council to immediately intervene to protect civilians and displaced persons camps in Darfur.”Unknown group attacked SAF” Speaking to Radio Dabanga from Zalingei, Mohamed Abakar Hassan Hamadin, Secretary of Information and spokesman for the National Congress Party of Central Darfur, said that the main reason behind the events at the Nertiti camp is that “on Monday, an unknown group attacked (members of) the armed forces (SAF) aboard two vehicles inside the city of Nertiti”. “The attack led to the death of two members of the SAF, and to the wounding of more than three”, said Hamadin. He claimed that the anonymous group escaped after the attack and entered Nertiti North camp. “As a result, the army handled the backslash rather powerfully, which resulted in some damage to some houses and the intimidation of some citizens,” he said. Hamadin told Radio Dabanga that the National Congress Party chairman and Governor of Central Darfur described what happened as “a surprise and a very unfortunate accident”. Hamadin added: “those people who don’t agree with the Government or NCP always use the citizens as human shields, and this bad experience increases the degree and complexity of the conflict”. Hamadin confirmed that the Governor issued orders to the head of the military to ensure things returned to normal in Nertiti. He described claims that the attack was intentional or that goal of these events is to dismantle the camp as “incorrect and exaggerated”. Hamadin stressed that the camps are neither a target nor any threat to the government or the NCP. “All that happened there is that a group used violence and then fled into the camp”. He called it “the typical behaviour of rebels, who use the displaced as human shields”. Heavy fire Multiple witnesses among the displaced residents of the camp strongly refute the NCP claims, calling the incident “the exact opposite”. One of the leaders alleged that “the shooting happened because one SAF member split from his unit on the road between Zalingei and Nertiti. He then came across some soldiers and opened fire on them. Four of them were injured and transferred to hospital in Nertiti.””After the shooting, the army entered Nertiti camp in six vehicles, including three tanks. They fired into the camp with weapons that included ‘Dushka’ .50-calibre machine guns. They then imposed a curfew from 8:00pm Sunday until 6:00am Monday,” he continued. The camp leader confirmed that as a result of the attack, “one humanitarian aid employee was killed, a number of displaced people were injured, and more than 50 houses burned: some houses were burned as a result of the shooting, while others were set on fire by the SAF on Sunday night and Monday”. He described the NCP assertion that unknown gunmen entered the camp as “false and fabricated”. “That is borne-out by all the witnesses in the city as well as the displaced,” the camp leader said. “It is fabricated because the NCP wants to dismantle camps in Darfur, in line with its previous attempts that occurred after President Omar Al Bashir was indicted by the International Criminal Court,” he suggested. File photo (Unamid) Related:UN chief: ‘shock, sorrow’ at killing of NGO worker in Nertiti North, Central Darfur (11 June 2013) Doctor dead, 15 injured and 54 homes torched during attack on Nertiti North, Central Darfur (10 June 2013)