The chairman of the high-level security commission charged with quelling violent clashes between the Ma’alia and Rizeigat tribes in East Darfur has announced that the tribes’ leaders have agreed to sign a ceasefire on Friday.
Speaking to Radio Dabanga from the reconciliation conference in Al Fula, capital of West Kordofan, mediator Ahmed Mohamed Ali said that “delegations of 15 leaders from each tribe have agreed to enter into a truce to stop the war and hostilities”.
As previously reported by Radio Dabanga, according to Unamid: “Tensions between the Rizeigat and Ma’alia were triggered earlier this month by unresolved disputes concerning access to land resources. Over the past week, the security situation deteriorated in the area as clashes broke out leading to an increase in criminality which has adversely affected the civilian population.”
The mediator said that the Ma’alia tribe stipulated that before signing the truce, “the Rizeigat must acknowledge that this has been a war between Rizeigat and Ma’alia and not between the Rizeigat and the armed movements”.
The Ma’alia also stipulated that the groups of armed tribesmen that have gathered during the clashes should disperse, and that those who have moved into the city of Ed Daein should withdraw, the mediator explained.
Ali underscored that the leaders of both tribes agreed to “an immediate investigation into the events and the accounting and accountability of the parties who bear the responsibility”.
On Monday, a convoy of Unamid peacekeepers was attacked by a mob in Ed Daein. The Mission confirmed the attack and affirmed that none of their peacekeepers were injured. However, witnesses stated that one peacekeeper was critically wounded as a result of the attack and is currently being treated in a hospital.
File photo: Members of the Rizeigat tribe in El Daein, East Darfur, perform dances and songs to welcome the arrival of a Unamid delegation. (Albert González Farran/Unamid)