Second Attack in First week of January in Darfur

For the second time this week Sudanese civilians have been attacked in Darfur first in Nertetiti and now in El Geneina. The latest attack was in the capitol of the West Darfur State at least seven people are believed to have been killed including a prominent doctor Dr. Zakaria Yahya Ishag. The attack also resulted in the looting of livestock of that locals direly needs for their survival. The attack reported involved the use of hand grenades described by locals as “hand bombs” and heavy weapons these were likely acquired by the regime’s military. This comes seven days after the attack in Nertetiti that left 11 civilians killed many of them children.
Both attacks represent blatant disregards for human life and the well being of the Sudanese people as well as a breach of international human rights laws that prohibits attack against civilian population. This brings the total number of civilians in Darfur killed this year to 18 in the first 6 days of the year. These actions might unfortunately be just the beginning of things to come.

The recent attacks on Nertiti and Elgeniena are not isolated incidents; it’s apart of the government of Sudan’s systematical violence against civilians that the people of Darfur had to endure for well over fourteen years. Because of lack of accountability, Omar al-Bashir ‘s regime in Sudan has become emboldened to carry out more deadly attacks directly against civilians in particular throughout 2016 and as recent as September 2016 when Amnesty International reported they conducted 30 gas attacks against civilians throughout Jebel Mara, where women, men and children are still suffering with no medical treatment. It is time for action to be taken to stop the human suffering, hold the regime accountable and limit there ability to continue harming civilians. International community and the United State must make it clear to al-Bashir that he can’t continue slaughtering his own civilians and that his crimes can’t go unpunished.