Nomads live with constant fear of being attacked by rebels mistaking them for Janjaweed - Kabkabiya town in N Darfur is marked "empty"

According to an IRIN report here below, an assessment report jointly published in April 2005 by relief agencies working in Sudan, said "African communities" constituted the majority of people living in the three states of North Darfur, South Darfur and West Darfur. The nomads, it added, made up about 20 percent of the population living in the three states.

IRIN's report quotes a nomad as saying the SLM/A rebels have guns and cars and are well organised. I still wonder how Sudanese rebels get guns, cars, satellite phones, petrol and money to pay for years of war. Can't help thinking it is all somehow connected to oil exploration and land rights.

Also, IRIN's report quotes the religious leader of a semi-nomadic clan as saying his clan was not in a camp for internally displaced persons, as is the case with most communities in Darfur, as they were afraid of losing their culture and customs. He said many nomads felt the need to protect themselves after the Darfur conflict started and some joined the Janjaweed voluntarily. The Janjaweed is a looting group, they are not real Arabs, they are made up of thieves from different tribes, he told IRIN.

See IRIN's report July 28 2005 on The forgotten nomads of Darfur.



Photo: A nomadic man from the Maharia-Riziegat community pictured near Kabkabiya. (IRIN)



Photo: The nomads in North Darfur moving during rainy season. (IRIN)



Photo: A nomad from the Mahami-Rizieget community in south Kabkabiya town, North Darfur. (IRIN)