More than 60 people have reportedly been killed and nearly 60 others wounded during an armed attack on a village in Sudan's restive Darfur region, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says.
Saturday's attack in Masteri village in the West Darfur state "was one of the latest of a series of security incidents reported over the last week that left several villages and houses burned, markets and shops looted, and infrastructure damaged," the UN body added.
There was no official word from the government on the incident.
Sudan said on Sunday it would deploy joint forces from various state security services in Darfur after renewed violence there recently, SUNA, the state news agency, reported.
A displaced Sudanese woman walks past a UNAMID vehicle at the Kalma camp for internally displaced people in Darfur's state capital Niyala on 9 October, 2019. Source: Getty
The forces will be deployed to the region's five states "to protect people and secure the agriculture season", Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said during a meeting in Khartoum with a delegation of women from Darfur.
In a separate incident, at least 20 people died and 22 others were injured after gunmen from an unidentified militia attacked a village in the state of South Darfur, witnesses and a local community leader said on Saturday.
On Sunday, three people, including a woman, were killed during a renewed dispute between farmers and shepherds in the Al-Jarf area in North Darfur state, SUNA reported, adding that security forces intervened and separated the two sides.
Recent violence by militias in North Darfur prompted authorities to declare a state of emergency on July 13.
"The escalation of violence in different parts of Darfur region is leading to increased displacement, compromising the agricultural season, causing loss of lives and livelihoods and driving growing humanitarian needs," the United Nations said.
