The UN-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) said fighting resumed last week between the Abbala and Beni Hussein tribes in the Aji Heir area – approximately 10 kilometres west of El Sireaf, where the internally displaced persons gathered.

“Our joint priority with the Government, UNAMID and all partners in the region is to ensure the safety and security of all civilians in the area and to provide much needed humanitarian assistance,” the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Ali Al-Za’tari, said in a statement issued today.

The current humanitarian situation in the El Sireaf locality and in North Darfur follows an outbreak of violence on 5 January between the Abbala and Beni Hussein tribes in the Jebel Amir area of North Darfur, resulting in a mass displacement of more than 100,000 people.

UN and partnering aid organizations delivered over 700 metric tones of food and other relief supplies to the area in the last month, according to the statement.

Mr. Al-Za’tari said the deadly tensions highlight “once again” the vulnerability of civilians in the area and cautioned that more civilians will flee the area unless a lasting solution to the conflict is found.

The latest fighting has reportedly killed more than 50 people and wounded dozens more.

UNAMID said it airlifted 37 wounded people, including a woman and two children, to El Fasher for medical treatment on 24 February, and carried 2,700 kilograms of medical and other supplies.

“I call for the immediate end to the tribal clashes in North Darfur,” UNAMID’s Officer-in-Charge, Mohamed Yonis, said in a press release.

“There is no solution to this conflict other than one that is driven by good-faith efforts toward reconciliation.”

The Mission has been supporting reconciliation initiatives between the two sides and conducting security escorts to facilitate humanitarian access, and has significantly increased the number of daily patrols in North Darfur areas most affected by the violence.

“My hope is that, in the upcoming weeks, the tensions in the area will ease and the reconciliation process will resume,” said Mr. Yonis.

As long as the extraction of Mali uranium and other valuables from its soil by French and other western firms went unobstructed, nobody cared about what happens in the poverty-stricken country. Entire populations had been pushed to the desert by the loyal to Paris regime of the capital Bamako. It’s the economic interests stupid.

However when the Mali desert tribes found cheap weaponry after their children returned, home having served as missionaries the Gaddafi regime in Libya, thus becoming easy recruits for the Islamist rebels, the entire West rose to “save” the country from being split. It must be noted that the Islamists are the only organised force opposing the Bamako oppressive regime. No wonder then why the desert tribes follow and support them, being their only hope to have control of their soil.

The EU Parliament

Already from Wednesday 16 January the European Parliament in Plenary Session had issued a statement backing France’s initiative in Mali. The announcement goes like this:

“MEPs saluted France’s military engagement in Mali and urged EU member states to show real solidarity with Paris in Tuesday’s 15 January urgent debate with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. They also deplored the lack of a European response to the crisis in the region. France’s military intervention was welcomed by all Parliament’s political groups, which highlighted the exceptional circumstances created by the north Mali rebels’ offensive against the south. MEPs stressed that Mali must not fall into the hands of terrorists”.

This is absolute hypocrisy. For one thing there was no solidarity for Paris by all political groups. There is solidarity only by some western governments. London, Washington and Brussels have expressed their backing to the French intervention in Mali. Even Berlin has not yet expressed unquestionable support to Paris over the Mali issue.

It was only High Representative Catherine Ashton who expressed unconditional support to France. She even decided to spend €50 million of EU money for this support. The Council of Europe announcement goes like this:

“In the light of the recent developments in Mali, on 17 January 2017 (n.b. this is a typing mistake of the year 2013 to be credit on the haste of some people in the Council running in support of Paris) the EU’s Foreign Affairs Ministers decided to speed up the deployment of the military training mission in Mali (EUTM Mali).

The Council was united in condemning the aggression of terrorist groups and welcomed the quick response of France, supported by other EU member states”. Mind you the announcement doesn’t say unanimous, it says united, which means there was not unanimity. In any case the issue takes everyday new dimensions after the Algerian Islamist have intervened in favour of the Mali rebels.

It seems that unfortunately Islamism has become the last-ditch of defence for the impoverished millions of people in North Africa and the Middle East.

It was not always like that. The Arab version of secular socialism, of Nasserism in Egypt and Baathism in Iraq and Syria had totally transformed those societies into secular states. It is the same for Turkey’s Kemalist secular tradition and the neo Muslim direction of Tayyip Erdogan.

It seems however that after some years of western interventions and economic impoverishment of vast masses of people the entire region has become a waste land stricken by lack of basic necessities and internal split supported if not created by the western governments. Now the West must face the repercussion of its policies in North Africa and the Middle East.

By George Pepper, Europeansting.com (by permission)

“The clashes have resulted in the alleged displacement of 60,000 persons and have reportedly claimed the lives of at least 100 persons,” the hybrid mission – known by the acronym UNAMID – said in an update.

The fighting erupted on 5 January in the Jebel Amer area near Kabkabiya, in North Darfur state, and resulted in a number of casualties, looting, the burning of nearby villages, and the displacement of thousands of civilians forced to flee towards towns of Kabkabiya, Saraf Omra and Al Sereif.

Following initial reports of the fighting, UNAMID dispatched a verification team to Jebel Amer. The team was informed that most of the displaced persons are currently living in schools, local council buildings and government buildings.

As part of its efforts to facilitate humanitarian assistance, UNAMID is today transporting by road 75 tons of relief items – including plastic sheets, blankets, jerry cans, mattresses and mosquito nets – to El Sereif and Garrah Azawia.

The peacekeeping operation has also provided escorts to UN World Food Programme (WFP) trucks carrying supplies, which have reached the town of Kutum and are expected to reach the district of Kabkabiya within a few days. In addition, it is actively supporting ongoing mediation and reconciliation efforts.

Established in July 2007, UNAMID has the protection of civilians as its core mandate. In addition, the peacekeeping operation is tasked with facilitating the delivery of humanitarian aid and assisting with an inclusive peace process in Darfur, where fighting broke out nine years ago, pitting Government forces and allied militiamen against rebel groups.

“Mellit is known for the peaceful coexistence between all tribes. I hope that this reputation will continue well into the future,” said UNAMID’s Head of Office for North Darfur, Hassan Gibril, who led the Mission’s delegation in the talks with community leaders earlier this week.

Disagreements between members of the Ziyadiah and Berti tribes emerged on 15 August, and resulted in violent clashes in which shops were looted and destroyed in Mellit’s main market area. The violence resulted in the deaths of six people and injuries to 12 others.

According to an UNAMID news release, Mr. Gibril said he was deeply concerned by the tragic events and offered the Mission’s assistance in mediation and inter-tribal reconciliation activities. “We want to learn from what happened to prevent such incidents in the future,” he said.

During the meeting with the UNAMID delegation, the local chief of the Abassi camp for internally displaced persons, Adam Abdurahim Kharif, said that residents fear attacks similar to the one that happened in the Kassab camp, which earlier this month was surrounded by armed men who looted its market and burnt down the police post located within, killing four people. The security and humanitarian situations in the camp have deteriorated since then, according to the Mission.

Kharuf also asked for more protection from UNAMID to prevent similar events from occurring in Mellit.

The Mission noted that Mellit’s local commissioner said that the events last week were a series of isolated incidents that have been resolved through goodwill, while the deputy leader of the Ziyadiah tribe said that members of the community moved quickly to contain the situation and now are working together to find a peaceful remedy. The leader of the Berti tribe said that, in general, the culture of the area values peace and the people are not troublemakers.

Deployed at the beginning of 2008, UNAMID is tasked with protecting civilians, promoting an inclusive peace process and helping ensure the safe delivery of humanitarian assistance across Darfur, an arid region on Sudan’s western flank.

Clashes erupted on Sunday between former rebel fighters from Sebha, Libya’s fourth largest city, and gunmen from the Tibu tribe after a Sebha man was killed in a argument over a car, according to al Arabiya.

A truce was agreed on Wednesday, but reports of fighting emerged later in the day.

The clashes stress the problems the government faces in imposing its authority following the ouster of Muammar Gaddafi last year.

Abdelmajid Seif al-Nasser, a local official who said he had quit his post on the ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) in protest at the violence, told AFP news agency: “There are still clashes in Sabha but not as intense.”

Some African tribes in southern Libya, such as the Toubou, feel they are discriminated against by Arabs from the coastal cities of the north who tend to dominate the country’s government and security forces, according to BBC. Other Libyans blame the Toubou of involvement in the smuggling of illegal migrants trying to get to Europe through Libyan ports.

The Toubou are black oasis farmers by custom who also have connections beyond Libya’s borders. They live in southern Libya, northern Chad and in Niger, and have previously denied having nationalist ambitions.

The EU is concerned about reports of clashes in Sebha, and calls for restraint from all who are involved in the conflict in a statement by Catherine Ashton, EU high representative. The EU underlined its support for all efforts aimed at national reconciliation and for the process of democratic transition in Libya.