Three Killed in Latest Violence in Sudan's Darfur

An internally displaced Sudanese family poses for a photograph outside their makeshift shelter within the Kalma camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Darfur, Sudan April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/File Photo
An internally displaced Sudanese family poses for a photograph outside their makeshift shelter within the Kalma camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Darfur, Sudan April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/File Photo
TT

Three Killed in Latest Violence in Sudan's Darfur

An internally displaced Sudanese family poses for a photograph outside their makeshift shelter within the Kalma camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Darfur, Sudan April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/File Photo
An internally displaced Sudanese family poses for a photograph outside their makeshift shelter within the Kalma camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Darfur, Sudan April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/File Photo

Three people were killed Friday in Sudan's restive Darfur region, witnesses and an aid group said, as the United Nations condemned recent clashes that have left over 200 dead.

West Darfur state, the arid region of Sudan bordering Chad, has for the past week been gripped by deadly violence between members of the Massalit community and Arab fighters.

On Friday, gunmen opened fire in a fruit market in West Darfur's state capital El Geneina, said Adam Regal from the General Coordination for Refugees and Displaced in Darfur, a Sudanese independent aid group.

"Three people were shot dead in El Geneina," Regal said, a toll confirmed by local resident Abdelrahman Hussein. It was not immediately clear what provoked the shooting, AFP reported.

Over 200 people have been killed and scores wounded in a week of heavy fighting, initially centered around the town of Krink, before spreading to El Geneina, which lies over 1,100 kilometers west of the capital Khartoum.

On Friday, the UN Security Council condemned the clashes and called for an "immediate cessation of violence" and a "transparent investigation" into those responsible.

The UN stressed "the primary responsibility of state authorities to protect civilians."

The latest violence comes as Sudan grapples with fallout from a coup in October last year led by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

Last week's deadly violence erupted with gunmen reportedly attacking Massalit villages around Krink in retaliation for the killing of two comrades.

The UN said more than 1,000 armed members of the Arab Rizeigat community then swept into the town.

Health facilities and government buildings were attacked or set on fire in the violence, according to the UN.

Witnesses have accused the Janjaweed militia of orchestrating the violence.



France Declines to Comment on Algeria’s Anger over Recognition of Morocco’s Claim over Sahara

French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (AFP file)
French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (AFP file)
TT

France Declines to Comment on Algeria’s Anger over Recognition of Morocco’s Claim over Sahara

French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (AFP file)
French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (AFP file)

Paris declined to comment on Algeria’s “strong condemnation” of the French government’s decision to recognize Morocco’s claim over the Sahara.

The office of the French Foreign Ministry refused to respond to an AFP request for a comment on the Algeria’s stance.

It did say that further comments could impact the trip Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune is set to make to France in late September or early October.

The visit has been postponed on numerous occasions over disagreements between the two countries.

France had explicitly expressed its constant and clear support for the autonomy rule proposal over the Sahara during Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne’s visit to Morocco in February, reported AFP.

The position has helped improve ties between Rabat and Paris.

On Thursday, the Algerian Foreign Ministry expressed “great regret and strong denunciation" about the French government's decision to recognize an autonomy plan for the Western Sahara region "within Moroccan sovereignty”.

Algeria was informed of the decision by France in recent days, an Algerian foreign ministry statement added.

The ministry also said Algeria would draw all the consequences from the decision and hold the French government alone completely responsible.