Islam - Africa > Millions fleeing war in Sudan; Dozens slaughtered by Boko Haram; Fulani Herdsmen kill 16 Christians this week

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UN says 'horrible suffering' in Sudan only growing as more people are displaced

As fierce fighting in Darfur once again pushes thousands of Sudanese to flee their homes, more must be done to alleviate the suffering of the millions already displaced, a UN official tells AFP.

Issued on: 03/11/2023 - 05:59; 2 min

Chadian cart owners transport belongings of Sudanese people who fled the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region, while crossing the border between Sudan and Chad in Adre, Chad, August 4, 2023. © Zohra Bensemra, Reuters

By:NEWS WIRES

"Six months and six million people forced to move, that's an average of one million per month, it's horrible suffering," said Mamadou Dian Balde, the top regional official for the UN's refugee agency (UNHCR).

The war between troops loyal to Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo has left more than 9,000 dead since April, according to a UN report.

Of the nearly six million who have fled, 1.2 million have left the country, "very proud people who find themselves begging" and whose lives have been "totally disrupted," the UN official said.

He warned that while the world's attention has been shifted to the war in Gaza, the number of people fleeing their homes in Sudan had started to rise again, as RSF forces advance toward Nyala, the country's second city in the heart of Darfur.

Another UN official in the region, Dominique Hyde, said on social media Thursday she had witnessed "dramatic scenes" at the border with Sudan.

"10,000 people seeking safety have arrived in the last three days," she said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meanwhile said he was "deeply troubled" at information about an "imminent large-scale attack" by Sudan's paramilitary forces in El-Facher, the capital of North Darfur.

More and more people from Darfur are being pushed south, first to Chad in recent weeks and now to South Sudan.

New camps

Mamadou Dian Balde said the priority was for a cessation of hostilities, noting that ongoing negotiations in Saudi Arabia's Jeddah need to "succeed in stopping the fighting."

Talks between the warring parties resumed at the end of October. Previous attempts at mediation only resulted in brief truces, which were systematically violated.

In the meantime, "we must alleviate the suffering (of refugees) by providing resources to these people whose numbers are only increasing," he said.

The UN's humanitarian response plan in August called for around $1 billion in funding, anticipating a number of 1.8 million refugees by the end of 2023.

That plan has only received 38 percent of the funding required, while "the needs are growing," said the UN official, noting that most refugees were going to the poorest parts of South Sudan and southern Chad, where local communities cannot absorb them.

That means the UN will need to build new camps.

"It's the last thing we want to do," said the UN official, but "we need to create new camps, because the populations are at the border" and in "extremely miserable conditions."

He also called for helping the local communities. "We want development. We have to invest in these places because if we only give support to refugees, it will create tensions and tensions can translate into violence."

(AFP)

Boko Haram attack on northeast Nigerian village leaves dozens dead

Extremists in northeastern Nigeria killed at least 37 villagers in two different attacks, residents said Wednesday, highlighting once again how deadly Islamic extremist rebels have remained in their 14-year insurgency in the hard-hit region.

Issued on: 02/11/2023 - 03:06; 1 min

Soldiers sit in trucks as the patrol in Goniri, Yobe State, in Nigeria's restive northeast on July 3, 2019.

© Audu Marte, AFP

By: NEWS WIRES

The extremists targeted villagers in Yobe state’s Geidam district on Monday and Tuesday in the first attack in the state in more than a year, shooting dead 17 people at first while using a land mine to kill 20 others who had gone to attend their burial, witnesses said.

The Boko Haram Islamic extremist group launched an insurgency in northeastern Nigeria in 2009 in an effort to establish their radical interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia, in the region. At least 35,000 people have been killed and more than 2 million displaced due to the extremist violence concentrated in Borno state, which neighbours Yobe.

Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu, who took office in May, has not succeeded in ending the nation's security crises both in the northeast and in northwest and central regions where dozens of armed groups have been killing villagers and kidnapping travelers for ransom.

The first attack occurred in the remote Gurokayeya village in Geidam when gunmen opened fire on some villagers late Monday, killing 17 of them, according to Shaibu Babagana, a resident in the area. At least 20 villagers who had gone to attend their burial were then killed on Tuesday when they drove into a land mine that exploded, Babagana added.

Idris Geidam, another resident, said those killed were more than 40. Authorities could not provide the official death toll, as is sometimes the case following such attacks.

“This is one of the most horrific attacks by Boko Haram in recent times. For a burial group to be attacked shortly after the loss of their loved ones is beyond horrific,” Geidam said.

The Yobe state government on Wednesday summoned an emergency security meeting over the attacks which it blamed on extremists that entered the state from the neighboring Borno.

“The security agencies have deployed security men to the area and we are studying a report on the infiltration in an effort to stave off future occurrences,” Abdulsalam Dahiru, a Yobe government security aide, told reporters.

(AP)

Yobe State, Nigeria

Nigeria: Muslims murder sixteen Christians in jihad attacks in Benue state

NOV 8, 2023 12:00 PM BY ROBERT SPENCER

The Fulani herdsmen has the same ideology and goals as Hamas, but it’s “Islamophobic” to take note of that.

16 Christians Slain in Attacks in Benue State, Nigeria

Morning Star News, October 31, 2023:

ABUJA, Nigeria (Morning Star News) – Fulani herdsmen and other terrorists on Sunday (Oct. 29) killed six Christians in Benue state, following the slaughter of 10 others earlier this month, sources said.

In Tse Gamber village, Gwer West County, the assailants early on Sunday killed three Christians and kidnapped another, said area resident Perver Acham. He identified the kidnapped Christian as Iorhon Dam.

Acham said three other Christians were slain in Ngai village at about the same time.

Also in Gwer West County, herdsmen and other terrorists on Oct. 23 killed three Christians in Agagbe village, said area resident Terna Jacob, who identified them as Iorhemba Cletus, 37; Akaa Clifford, 50; and Igbahemba Abua, 55.

“They were ambushed and killed by the terrorists,” Jacob said in a text message to Morning Star News.

Another Christian in Benue state was killed after being kidnapped in September. A family member of 80-year-old Washima Erukaa, a Christian official of the Ukum Local Government Council who had been kidnapped from his home in Zakibiam on Sept. 23, said they learned on Sunday (Oct. 29) that he had been killed on Oct. 23 because relatives were unable to pay the demanded ransom amount.

“His captors had demanded that we pay a ransom of 5 million naira (US$6,340), but we were not able to raise the money,” said the relative on condition of anonymity. “However, on Oct. 29, they contacted us by phone and said our father had been killed and buried by them.”

Fulani herdsmen on Oct. 14 also attacked Imatom village in Logo County, killing three Christians at about 9 p.m., said resident resident Anawa Joseph. He identified the slain as Tertsea Terkimbi Adagundu, Tertsea Mkposu and Mimidoo Umburga….

Gwer West County, Benue State, Nigeria