Another deadly attack in Nyala, South Darfur

Darfur Women Action Group (DWAG) is extremely outraged over the killing and the suffering imposed on civilians in Nyala, South Darfur and the lack of adequate response from the international community, including the United States. Over the last week, the people of Nyala city, South Darfur have seen an unprecedented death and destruction since the war in Sudan started. The extensive fighting between the Sudanese Arm Forces and the Raid Support Forces have been fought horrifically inside the city and on civilians’ bodies, with heavy shelling and a large-scale artillery attack for eleven consecutive days across the Southern part of the city, most of which fell into civilian homes and the market. Civilian casualties are on the rise while many more have gone missing. Many families have reported closing their doors forever because they all have been killed.

Reports confirm that over 60 civilians have been killed and over 250 have been wounded, while many more have yet to be a counted for because many people are frantic, fleeing for their lives while the phone and internet services are completely blocked. 50,000 people have been reported displaced, many of whom have fled to El Fasher, North Darfur where there are already a large number previously displaced from the towns of Kutum and Tawila, where they are severely lacking survival means and any form of humanitarian assistance. The UNOCHA has confirmed that the number of wounded has exceeded the hospital capacity and the hospitals are out of supplies necessary to perform emergency treatment for the victims. We are alarmed by the scale and the level of devastation created by these attacks and are gravely concern about the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Nyala.

Nyala is the capital of the South Darfur State, the third largest city in Sudan where the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have clashed for eight consecutive days. These battles have completely disregarded civilian lives and any respect for international human rights and humanitarian laws and must be punishable by law. This conflict continues to wreak havoc on Darfur, resulting in the destruction of an entire state. Due to the overwhelming number of victims stemming from these battles, the hospitals in Nyala are at capacity and are experiencing critical supply shortages. Currently, all state hospitals are out of service as they struggle to care for their patients with their dwindling sanitary materials and medicines.

The humanitarian crisis in Nyala has rapidly worsened and expands beyond hospitals, as emergency transportation such as ambulances have been restricted so they cannot reach those who have been injured to provide life-saving assistance, such as first-aid. This has also made it difficult to transport patients to any health facility. Due to the lack of basic needs (including shelter, food, and water) people are dying, while thousands of others have been forced into displacement. Forcing people to flee their homes is a tactic used by the RSF to remove the indigenous African population and take over their homes and land to exterminate and replace the indigenous population with those from Arab origin.

The Nyala Emergency Room Initiative calls for both the RSF and SAF to immediately stop bombing, killing, raping, and displacing civilians in the city of Nyala.

In addition, called on all humanitarian organizations must swiftly intervene to save the residents of the state through providing:

1. Life-saving medical supplies (medical gauze, intravenous solutions, medical plaster, fracture devices, pain killers, anesthetics, and all emergency medicines)
2. Food, drinking water, tents, protective equipment, and other essential supplies
3. Operating materials for electric generators for hospitals and ambulances

With now devastating attacks and the expulsion of Nyala residents, the RSF is planning to repeat what we have witnessed in El Geneina, West Darfur. If Nyla fell under RSF control, this means El Fasher will soon follow and the entire Darfur region will fall into the hands of the exterminators, Janjaweed militias.

The situation in Nyala today is echoing the sentiment of the genocidal pattern carried out in El Geneina, and we must not let it be repeated again.

Therefore, we urgently call on the United States government to demonstrate the leadership required to lead the UNSC members to undertake the following steps:

• Place Darfur under International Trusteeship to protect civilians and save lives.
• Open an unhindered humanitarian corridor to protect humanitarian actors.
• Impose accountability measure that will help end the war and bring justice to the victims.
• Impose targeted sanctions on individuals (including the generals and their advisers) by freezing assets and imposing a travel ban to limit their ability to acquire weapons from their regional enablers.
• The United States must make it clear to the United Arab Emirates that it must stop sullying weapons and fueling genocide in Darfur and Sudan at large.

The United States is a leading government in the world and it is imperative that the US demonstrate leadership in Sudan rather than following the lead of Saudi’s oppressive partisan regime in resolving the crisis in Sudan.

The human cost and the humanitarian crisis in Darfur is incredibly urgent and the international community must end its double standard in addressing and responding to the crisis. We must hold the UNSC to a higher standard and remind them that they must meet its obligation to the people of Sudan.

DWAG calls on its supporters to spread the word about this humanitarian catastrophe and urges them to appeal, especially to US government, to take leadership on Sudan. In addition, DWAG calls on all international and local humanitarian organizations to intervene to save lives, all media channels, and all international and local newspapers to increase the spotlight on Darfur.

The suffering in Darfur has gone on for far too long, and we must tell our leaders that they must not normalize genocide or impunity for such crimes.

With our collective effort we can make a difference

Sincerely,

Niemat Ahmadi, DWAG President, DWAG team