The attackers targeted members of the local Masalit community, UN officials said (File)
Khartoum, Sudan:
More than 60 people have been killed and 60 others injured in further violence in Sudan’s West Darfur region, UN officials said on Sunday.
About 500 armed men attacked the town of Masteri, north of Beida, Darfur on Saturday afternoon, the statement from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.
The assailants targeted members of the local Masalit community, looting and torching houses and part of the local market, the statement added.
“This was one of the latest in a series of security incidents reported over the past week, which left several villages and houses burned, markets and shops looted and infrastructure damaged,” said the statement from the OCHA office in Khartoum.
Following Saturday’s attack on Masteri, around 500 local people staged a protest demanding more protection from the authorities.
Members of the Masalit community said they would not bury their dead until authorities took action, OCHA said.
Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said on Sunday that the government would send security forces to the conflict-ravaged region to “protect the citizens and the agricultural season”.
His announcement came two days after gunmen in the area killed at least 20 civilians, including children, as they returned to their fields for the first time in years, the latest in a series of incidents violent.
The recent killings have targeted African agricultural tribes in conflict with nomadic Arab tribes over land.
“The escalation of violence in different parts of the Darfur region is leading to an increase in displacement, compromising the agricultural season, causing loss of life and livelihoods and giving rise to growing humanitarian needs,” the statement said. from OCHA.
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