New Attacks in Sirba Claim More than 20 lives; cross-border violence is escalating

February 16, 2007

As the conflict in Darfur spreads to neighboring Chad, innocent civilians on both sides of the Sudan-Chad border continue to suffer.  Damanga Coalition for Freedom and Democracy has received reports of new attacks in Sirba, a village in the northern part of West Darfur state, which provide further evidence that the Darfur conflict is escalating into a full-blown regional crisis.

The attacks took place on the mornings of Thursday, February 8 and Sunday, February 11, and claimed at least 24 lives.  According a correspondent in Sirba, 14 people were killed in the first attack, most of whom were women and children; another 20 people were injured.  The second assault killed at least 10 people, with an unspecified number of additional people injured.  Damanga’s correspondents are still attempting to verify the names and ages of those killed. 

Most victims died of gunshot wounds.  It was reported that government airplanes were spotted in the area at the time of the attacks, and that some bombings may have occurred, but these assertions have not yet been verified.

Two eyewitnesses who live close to the road between Al-Geneina and Sirba reported seeing a large convoy of janjaweed militia coming from their base in Al-Geneina on Saturday, February 10.  The militia members were accompanied by Sudanese government trucks and troops carrying a large amount of supplies.  It appeared that the convoy was prepared for an extended, large-scale assault.  The two witnesses said they suspected that the janjaweed were originally planning a cross-border raid into Chad, whose border is just west of Sirba.  They had heard that a contingent of the Chadian army was discovered to be inside Chad, presenting a deterrent.  Thus it was likely that the convoy switched its target to Sirba, where there is a rumored base for the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).

One of the witnesses, who asked that he be referred to only as Hamza, was reached via cellphone with the help of a Damanga correspondent.  He said, “The government of Sudan wants to change the regime in Chad to Arab rule.  African civilians on both sides of the border continue to be attacked.  The Chadian rebels are also janjaweed, and they are getting help from the government of Sudan.  The international community needs to act, because this war is getting worse.”

The other witness, Hamza’s aunt, wished to remain unnamed.  One of her sons and her husband were killed by janjaweed last year.  “Every day,” she said, “we wonder if we are going to die.  No place is safe.  It is impossible to go to Chad, and Sirba is not safe.  I cannot go to my relatives in Al-Geneina because all of the trucks are attacked on the road, if they are not government trucks.  I never imagined a person could spend their whole life being terrified.  Some days I wonder if maybe it is better to die than to live in fear.”