Thousands flee Darfur attacks

- Recent attacks on villages in the Sudanese state of West Darfur have forced up to 5,000 people to flee their homes and seek refuge in two camps around El Geneina, a nongovernmental organisation working in the volatile area said.

Medair-Switzerland said about 500 households were reported to have arrived in Ardamatta Camp, and another 300 in Durti Camp, having fled their homes with very little during the peak of the cold season. Many of the displaced civilians, it added, had spent nights huddled inside rough shelters made of leaves and grass, without even blankets to protect them from the elements. Some suffered injuries while fleeing their villages.

"There has been an influx of newly displaced people arriving in [the] two camps," Medair noted in a statement, saying its technicians were extending water to the newcomers while its health workers had opened another temporary clinic in Ardamatta to focus on the specific health needs of the newly displaced. Read more >>>