KASSAB CAMP (27 Apr.) - A number of people who fled the attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces on their villages in Kutum locality, North Darfur, have spent more than a month in the wilderness, before they reached Kassab camp for the displaced, a camp sheikh told Radio Dabanga. “They have been living in the heat of the sun, eating one poor meal, and having only small doses of water a day.”
“The displaced villagers spent all that time in the valleys and the forests because the Rapid support Janjaweed blocked the roads and they did not find means of transportation. These newly displaced arrived at Kassab after walking six days on foot and on donkeys.”
The camp sheikh added that they left behind thousands of people who sought refuge in the Um Gozein and Toro Boro mountains, the Hama Gusa forest, and the Gasana valleys. “They told me that people have died, and that diseases broke out among these people, in particular measles, whooping cough, and diarrhoea.