Murtal, June 29 (Darfur24)
Hundreds of Sudanese army officers, soldiers and their families stranded in the Murtal area, east of Jebel Marra in the Darfur region, are facing worsening humanitarian conditions, with some reportedly resorting to begging to survive, local sources said.
The Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), led by Abdul Wahid Mohamed Nur, has hosted hundreds of army personnel who fled the fighting in El Fasher after the Rapid Support Forces captured the city last October. The soldiers are being sheltered in areas under the movement’s control after being disarmed upon arrival.
Local sources told Darfur24 that dwindling humanitarian assistance to displacement camps, particularly in eastern Jebel Marra, has deepened the hardship facing the stranded soldiers and their families.
Sources close to the officers and soldiers said the SLM gathered all military personnel who had fled El Fasher into Murtal after confiscating their weapons. While some officers and soldiers later managed to leave the movement-controlled areas through Chad, hundreds remain in Murtal, many of them now joined by their families.
The sources said the group’s humanitarian situation has become increasingly dire because of the shortage of aid and the continued suspension of their salaries and other financial entitlements.
According to the sources, the worsening economic conditions have forced some of the stranded soldiers to beg in local markets to support their families.
Last February, army personnel stranded in Jebel Marra told Darfur24 that their salaries had been suspended after they fled El Fasher, leaving them dependent on limited humanitarian assistance provided by aid organizations, similar to displaced civilians in Tawila and other parts of Jebel Marra.