El-Fasher, 16 February 2009 Following reports of several days of clashes in the locality of Wada’ah 90 kilometers south of El-Fasher (North Darfur) involving the forces of the Government of Sudan (GoS) and armed groups present and operating in the area, UNAMID, the African Union – United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur, rapidly organized and dispatched, by helicopter, a fact-finding and assessment team to Wada’ah on 13 February. The area of Wada’ah has been under the control of the Sudan Liberation Army Minni Minawi faction (SLA/MM) for the past few years.

The team, composed of UNAMID senior military and civilian officials, was led by the Mission’s Force Commander (FC), General Martin Luther Agwai, and accompanied by Major General Mohieldin Abdalkafi Mohamed, the GoS Liaison Officer.

While in Wada’ah, the team met and discussed with the local population and its representatives and leaders and was able, during its tour of the city, to witness the extent of the damage suffered by the town. This did not seem to have been caused by combat but, rather, deliberately inflicted. Numerous buildings and equipment houses, shops, huts, generators were burnt to the ground as well as the market place, which was allegedly looted and where granaries set on fire were still smoldering when the UNAMID team visited the place. According to the local population, medical supplies at a local dispensary, water pump equipment, goods and food, were allegedly stolen, as well as more than 2000 cattle herded out of the area.

The team was taken to a site on the outskirts of Wada’ah, where a dozen carcasses of livestock camels and donkeys with visible marks of gunshots, were strewn around. On two different locations nearby, the UNAMID team was shown fresh mounds of earth which, according to the locals, were the recently-dug mass graves where they buried45 of their own people. The same sources indicated that a large number of people, many reported as having fled the fighting, were still unaccounted for. Neither a precise casualty toll nor the number of possible wounded could be obtained and verified. Returning to El-Fasher, the team brought back two injured women in need of medical attention. They were hospitalized upon arrival and are listed in stable condition.

Teams composed of UNAMID Humanitarian, Civil Affairs, Human Rights, experts were sent on 15 February to the area to provide emergency humanitarian assistance, determine the exact circumstances surrounding the Wada’ah incidents, stabilize the situation by engaging local leaders from all groups to resolve conflicts and are still on location.

UNAMID Force Commander, General Martin Luther Agwai, expressed the grave concerns of the Mission for the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Wada’ah and for the lives and welfare of its civilian population. He also strongly condemned the fighting and called on all parties to refrain from further violence and destruction, urging all involved to commit themselves to a peaceful resolution of their conflicts and to serving and protecting the population.