Zara Khan Umar, a refugee from the neighboring Sudan’s Darfur province, has been taken refuge in a squatter community in Borota. Umar narrated the ordeal back in Darfur, as the conflict rages on. She said, “as the night descended, they came and killed.” Any men they encounter along their way, they killed them.
The 40-year-old is among more than 90,000 people, who have fled the war in Sudan too seek refuge in an informal Borota refugee camp in Chad.
The Rapid Support Forces and Sudanese Army have been at war since April, due to disagreement between the two generals over the disbandment of the Rapid Support Force within certain years. Though Khartoum has served as the primary battleground thus far, the violence has also extended to other cities, including the war-torn Darfur area.
The unrest swiftly escalated into an intercommunal conflict, pitting armed Arab men against Masalit fighters in fierce clashes, that eyewitness and survivors recalled.
About 25,000 people, mostly women and children, now reside in the hurriedly constructed hamlet, that is only 5 kilometers away from the Sudanese border. The majority of refugees in this area, fled Konga Haraza during the first two weeks of the war.
According to reports from refugees and humanitarian workers, Arab armed groups assaulted towns without security personnel, burnt homes, and killed residents mostly men, by the hundreds.
Due to the blackout, it is difficult to validate their story. The stories though, have been consistent with the accounts of other refugees in other camp. They spoke of the random assassination of civilians, the looting of hospitals, and the burning of neighborhoods in several locations around Darfur.
Moreover, other refugees claimed that, despite being outnumbered and having weaker weaponry, some Masalit people in Konga Haraza defended. They said that, the majority of civilian guys remained around to defend their territory.
However, smaller groups of refugees from Konga Haraza continue to trickle into Borota as the battle continues, each carrying the most recent information on family members back home.
Salma Hisen Hasan no longer bothered with these issues, when she was few meters away. News of her husband death in el-Geneina, the capital of West Darfur state, reached her the day before she crossed the border to Chad. “I woke up three times in the night,” the 35-year-old said in a low tone. “I was turning my head left and right looking for him,” Salma averred.
Intercommunal conflict between Arab armed men and Black African communities, like the Masalit, has long taken place in West Darfur. In 2003, President Omar al-Bashir armed Arab militias to put down a revolt led by non-Arab groups, what had previously been rivalry over water and land changed into a violent battle.
Notwithstanding, human rights organizations charged the Janjaweed militias (Evil Horsemen) of committing widespread crimes. The International Criminal Court has been requesting for Al-Bashir and other Sudanese officials, for suspected war crimes committed during the protracted conflict, which claimed over 300,000 lives.
Al-Bashir in 2013, rebranded the Janjaweed militia to the Rapid Support Force, with Hemedti serving as their commander. The paramilitary leader has since played a more significant role in Sudanese politics in the years that proceeded.
Hemedti helped the military overthrow his Omar al-Bashir in 2019, before planning a coup alongside al-Burhan two years later, disrupting Sudan’s precarious path to democracy.
The RSF had denied any involvement in attacks against people in Darfur, while the two generals now engaged in combat. However, the majority of refugees who shared their stories, claimed to have observed men fighting with Arab armed groups in Rapid Support Force uniforms.
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