23 July 2009 -- UNAMID Police Commissioner, Micheal Fryer, continued his four-day long range patrol in Tawila, about 60 kilometres west of El Fasher. He was accompanied by UNAMID Deputy Force Commander Duma Mdutyana, and by senior officials from the Civil Affairs, Human Rights, HIV/AIDS and Gender components of the Mission. A platoon of Rwandan peacekeepers as well as Indonesian formed police units also formed part of the patrol.

The patrol is being conducted as part of the Mission’s efforts to establish stronger communication with Darfurians and to monitor the situation of returnees on the ground, especially those from Chad.

While in Tawila, the patrol visited the Dally and Argo internally displaced persons (IDP) camps and interacted with farmers preparing for the planting season, who said the security situation in the area was calm. Meanwhile, IDPs in the Dally IDP camp informed the patrol that there was sporadic shooting at nights in the area close to the site.

The patrol is expected to visit Kabkabiya more than 100 kilometres from Tawila and return to El Fasher on Friday 24 July.

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