El Fasher , May 13(Darfur 24)
On Sunday, the Darfur Journalists Association called on the parties to the conflict in the city of El Fasher, the provincial capital of North Darfur State, to grant safe passage for civilians to leave the city.
El Fasher is witnessing violent clashes between the army and the armed movements allied with it and the Rapid Support Forces and the militias cooperating with them, which have claimed the lives of dozens of people and injured hundreds of others.
The association said, in a statement obtained by Darfur 24, that the armed forces, the Rapid Support Forces, and the joint force of the armed movements mobilized large forces for the battle of El Fasher.
The journalist association pointed out that the crowds currently present around and inside El Fasher herald this battle as a major humanitarian disaster, and it is expected that most of its victims will be defenseless civilians.
The association emphasized that the civilians who fled the hell of war in Nyala, the capital of South Darquor state, and were welcomed by the Sultans in El Fasher, received the sultans’ welcome, generosity and kindness. We hope that “Fasher will not betray the Sultan and lead them to their death without sin.”
The journalist union continued: “We do not absolve either side of the war of committing crimes. Both of them committed violations in the areas under their control against civilians, and we fear for civilians from the oppression of both parties. Therefore, we appeal to both sides of the conflict to provide safe passages for civilians to exit the Holocaust that both parties have been mobilizing for for months.”
The association expressed hopes that both sides of the war would not use civilians as human shields, as it called on them to show a little Sudanese morality and adhere to international conventions and covenants that criminalize endangering the lives of civilians.
It called on international organizations to establish a camp in a safe place far from the reach of fire, to shelter civilians fleeing the hell of war and to provide housing, food and medicine for the displaced until the battle ends and citizens return to their homes.
The international community exerted strong pressure on the army and the Rapid Support Forces to spare El-Fasher the dangers of battle, which led them to exchange accusations about who started the attack that took place the day before yesterday, Friday.