Nyala, December 24(Darfur24) The commander of the 16th Infantry Division, Major General Yasser Al-Khader, has imposed  a state of emergency in Beleil locality, east of Nyala, the capital of South Darfur.

 

The decision to impose state of emergency was taken  at the backdrop of the  clashes that have been taking place  between herdsmen and local farmers  since last Wednesday, leaving  12 people dead , dozens wounded, and  7 villages burned.

 

The army commander said in front of dozens of protesters from the people of the areas affected by tribal violence that the state government declared a state of emergency in the locality and the government forces will deal decisively with the outlaws in the area, at a time when the governor of the state, Hamid al-Tijani Hanoun, was unable to meet the protesters because of their refusal, so he sent his deputy, the army commander and the police chief to address them.

 

Dozens of protesters carried the bodies of a number of dead people after receiving them from the morgue of Nyala Hospital to the headquarters of the state government, in protest against the killings and looting that their areas were subjected to. The protesters accused the state government of not being serious in dealing with the incidents.

 

The protesters closed the Mecca Bridge, which connects the south of the city with its center and north, and also closed the road between the Government Secretariat and the Army Command.

 

Speaking to the protesters ,  director of the state police, Major General Muhammad Ahmed Al-Zein, said that the police forces  had lost  one of its members  in the incidents,  stressing -amidst shoouting and  denunciations of the protesters  that the security forces are capable of resolving the outlaws, and restoring stability to the area.

 

A number of villages in the northeast of the city of Belil, east of the city of Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, witnessed armed confrontations between herdsmen and the local population, which resulted in the death of 12 people and the wounding of dozens, according to unofficial statistics.