Sudan: Inter-tribal conflicts resulted into the death of three Sudanese citizens, looting of property and displacement of over 10,000 people in West Darfur

(10 April 2023) African Center for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) is deeply concerned over the deteriorating security in Sudan. We call upon the Sudanese authorities to urgently conduct an independent investigation into the incidents that happened between 22 to 24 March 2023 in Tandalti village in West Darfur and bring the perpetuators to book. In this release, ACJPS documents a series of violent incidents that resulted into deaths, looting of property and displacement of over 10,000 people into Chad.

On 22 March 2023, at around 01:10am, three armed men raided the house of a one Mr. Mustafa Adam Yousef and shot him dead using an automatic gun known as “Kalashnikov”. Mr. Adam was a 37-year-old man and a resident of Tandalti, a village located 5 kilometers from the Sudanese-Chadian Boarder approximately and 45 kilometers North of Elgenina the capital of West Darfur. Mr. Adam belonged to the Mrarit tribe and he was a successful trader in the village. He was also considered a good leader with a kind heart because of his charitable works and his contribution to his community.

The men had earlier threatened Mr. Adam’s wife. The armed group only broke into Mr. Adam’s house with a mission/intension to kill him and left without asking for money or taking any valuables from the house. As soon as the assailants had left, Mr. Adam’s wife informed the villagers/community of what had happened. The community quickly responded and within an hour (02:00am) the male residents created a voluntary group locally known as “Fazaa”. They consisted of approximately 40 men armed with guns and other weapons. The voluntary group started following the footprints of the alleged assailants and it led them outside the village borders. They then waited until sunrise and organized themselves with more arms and vehicles and headed to the South following the footprints. The footprints led them to Alban Jadeed, a village located 25 kilometers from Tandalti village. Alban Jadeed village is largely occupied members of the Airanga tribe. The Fazaa suspected that assailants were hiding in a particular house. A reliable source informed ACJPS that the house is owned by an Airanga female resident. Upon searching the house, the Fazaa found two armed Arab male guests. They tried to arrest the men but they were faced with resistance which led to an exchange of gunfire between the groups for about an hour but later managed to arrest the armed suspects.

The arrested suspects are;

1. Eltahir Ahmed Abdallah Jebril (m), a 35-year-old from Awalad Zaid, Arab tribe
2. Jebreel Omer Fadllah (m), a 30-year-old from Najaa, Arab tribe

The Fazaa then moved back to Tandalti village with the two suspects and handed them to the police station but the police officers refused to receive the two men. ACJPS was reliably informed that the officers refused to receive the men because of two main reasons; first they were badly tortured and secondly the police said that they did not have enough man power to counter in case Arabs attacked the police station. On 29 March 2023, the Sudanese Police Forces issued statement stating that it has formed an investigation Committee to investigate the reasons why the police neglected their duty by refusing to receive the suspects.

The Fazaa then approached the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) who also refused to receive the suspects. Upon exhausting all measures, the Fazaa took the men to the valley in the village and together with other villagers, they stoned the suspects to death. A video of the gruesome incident was captured on camera by witnesses. ACJPS was reliably informed that after the incident, some people started advising the villagers to arm themselves in case of a retaliation by the Arabs.

The following day, on 23 March 2023, approximately 30 Arabs from Awalad Najaa riding on motorcycles headed to Tandalti village. On 24 March 2023, 250 more Arabs riding on horses, motorcycles and vehicles arrived in Tandalti village and launched an attack from the Northern direction of the village where there is inadequate security deployment of Central Reserve Police and Sudanese Alliance Movement soldiers (signatory to the Sudanese Peace Agreement, 2020). The attack resulted into the killing of 2 people, looting of property and the displacement of approximately 10,000 people who crossed the border to Chad.

The names of those killed during the attack are;

1. Mohamed also known as Warsha (m) who killed in his shop at the market
2. Abdallah Burmah (m)

 Reactions from West Darfur Government

In reaction the incident, West Darfur government deployed joint troops from Police and Military Forces and the Rapid Support Forces in the area. The West Darfur security committee also held a session in the village after the Arab group came up with a list of six names as those who are guilty of the killing of their two tribesmen.

The native administration of West Darfur held a customary reconciliation meeting which ended with the signing of an Agreement. The agreement obligated Tandalti village residents through their native administration to pay 35,000,000 Sudanese pounds as compensation for the two Arab men. 10,000 Sudanese Pounds was paid immediately and they scheduled to pay the balance in instalments.  ACJPS was reliably informed that West Darfur authorities prevented international non-governmental organistaions from intervening and assisting with situation without giving any valid reasons.

ACJPS further calls upon the Sudanese authorities to carry out an impartial investigation into the neglect of duty by security officers. We also implore the Sudanese authorities to ensure security deployment in all states in Sudan to curb the high rates of crime and insecurity in the country.