Troubled horizon

Darfur is a place of many seasons all in the same day. In one direction, life seems to be almost normal, serene, downright boring. But on another horizon we feel a storm coming. In El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur. we hear lots of rumors that the rebels, who have been losing the battle to maintain their bases in the northern desert, have decided to take the fight to the government troops based in Fasher. The town is very jittery but the market has remained open every day without fail, suggesting that the rumors are just that. When businessmen shut their doors, then I get nervous, not before.

Today 50 heavily armed vehicles arrived in Fasher from Khartoum, presumably on their way to new front lines north and west of the city. Mellit and Kebkabiya have seen fortified battle lines forming just outside of their city limits. But fighting seems to have stopped in the areas that saw heavy bombardments and fighting over the past few weeks.

The vice president and head of one faction met early this week and allegedly signed an agreement to stop fighting one another. Hard to say what is true or just conjecture since no public announcement was ever made, but I feel confident enough to head back to Fasher the day after tomorrow for a rediscovery of my bed and abode.

It has been 28 days since I have had a chance to sleep in my own bed and use my own kitchen. I look so forward to celebrating the Ed Ramadan in peace in my own place. Okay, maybe the word ‘peace’ is not appropriate in the given circumstances, but being in one’s own surroundings with one’s own stuff does bring on a hint of inner peace. Talk about a false sense of security!

The downside of being in Fasher is that the internet has not been functioning there since the fighting started over a month ago, so I will most likely be in contact with family and friends via telephone and not the internet. That also means no internet update for a few solid weeks unless I can bum a few minutes of online time with the NGOs that have a Vsat connection.

Here is an idea of the situation reports we used to receive once a day but now appear to come in updates during the course of the day as needed:

UPDATED INFO RECEIVED AT 1600 HOURS: Today at 1230 hours ,a vehicle convoy composed of approx 50 vehicles ( composed of pick up trucks , with machine-guns mounted and one heavy lift truck) , arrived in El Fasher from Khartoum. Each vehicle had approx 6-8 GoS soldiers on it.

UPDATED INFO AS AT 1700 HOURS: Vicinity KAGURO "As regards KABKABIYA (North of Kaguro) be informed that there are increased GOS Military, Janjaweed (and Jundi Mazloum) activities demonstrating typical indications of new build of Janjaweed in the area. Such indications include massive theft of domestic animals like goats, sheep, horses and others (replenishment or preparations for field mission) which at times has involved shooting of the owners of such animals if they resist the theft . One was yesterday involving the theft of goats and firing of a woman in the leg."

Also: From the SLA HAC Commissioner that there is a significant build-up of government-backed militia (he did not detail a location where the build-up is occurring) and advised OCHA that no-one (presumably meaning UN and INGOs) should not leave El Fasher for a "few days"! It was not specified in this advice but we have already had reports of a build-up of troops in Kabkabiya and Mellit-Malha so this may be the locations where the SLA HAC Commissioner is referring to.

Peace is hard. War, thats easy

In the past four weeks, the conflict in the three States that make up Darfur is taken on a different charateristic. It is now composed of more overt confrontations that differ from the hit and run skirmishes we saw at the start of my stay here.

This article highlights some of the most intense fighting that is currently being staged just 40 miles southwest of Fasher. I am currently in Nyala. I had been scheduled to travel to Fasher today but my office failed to book a place aboard the UN WFP planes that service Sudan's war affected cities.

Read the article for more info:

Darfur villages, clinic destroyed in fighting: rebels

KHARTOUM (AFP) — Rebel fighters accused government forces on Sunday of burning three villages and destroying a health clinic in north Darfur during heavy clashes involving more than 100 vehicles.

Rebels said fierce fighting erupted on Friday southwest of El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, the latest in a series of battles in Sudan's war-torn western region.

"The fighting was very heavy, with government soldiers and militia attacking," said Abu Bakr Kadu, a senior commander with the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA)-Unity faction.

"There was fighting late on Saturday, but we are behind them and shooting now," Kadu said, speaking by satellite telephone from near to the battlefield.

"There was very bad damage to the villages in the bombing, and in Khazan Tungur village the hospital was destroyed."

Kadu said the centre was run by Partner Aid International (PAI), a European aid agency, which opened a health clinic in the village earlier this year.

PAI could not be reached to confirm the attack, but other rebels gave similar accounts.

"They have been bombing with Antonov aeroplanes, then moving quickly into the areas," said Ibrahim al-Hillo, a commander from the SLA faction led by Paris-based exile Abdel Wahid Mohammed Nur.

"There are also Janjaweed militia but they are travelling with the government soldiers in their vehicles," Hillo added, speaking from north Darfur.

He said the government troops had burnt the villages of Khazan Tungur, Tarny and Hijaj, all approximately 60 kilometres (40 miles) southwest of El-Fasher.

Rebels said the government force totalled more than 100 vehicles packed with soldiers, but the numbers could not be independently verified.

"There are civilians killed and injured, but many ran away when the fighting started," Hillo said.

"The fighting has destroyed their villages, they are all burnt along with the small hospital in Khazan Tungur."

Peacekeepers confirmed there had been fighting between government and rebel forces, in which aircraft were involved.

"The reports that we have indicate there has been heavy fighting," said Kemal Saiki, a spokesman for the joint UN-African Union mission in Darfur (UNAMID).

"We do not have exact details. But with reports of more than 100 vehicles with troops, this is not just a skirmish."

UNAMID was working to establish details of casualties, exact troop numbers and a time-line of events, he added.

There was no immediate response from the military. However, an army spokesman on Saturday said that the only military action under way was against bandits responsible for a spate of attacks on aid convoys.

The new violence comes amid mounting pressure on Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir as he seeks to head off potential charges from the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and genocide in Darfur.

According to the United Nations, up to 300,000 people have died and more than 2.2 million fled their homes since rebels rose up against Khartoum in February 2003. Sudan says 10,000 people have been killed.

The Silence is a blessing for some

Sitting under a jakaranda tree enjoying a tall glass of lime juice at my favorite watering hole, I realize that no matter how hard the wind blows, the tree makes no noise. No rustling of leaves, that quiet peaceful background noise that puts you at ease. Just the image of dancing branches moving every which way and challenging your eyes to focus on one branch when another seduces your gaze to shift and settle on its new found rhythm. Such a feast for the eyes. Like watching a beautiful movie with the sound turned off. Quite a zen experience. I never noticed this before. May you discover such a rare pleasure in your life this day.

The image sets a less than pleasant tone for this entry. As I write this message, more tensions are mounting outside the Kalma displaced persons camp just 10 km outside Nyala and fighting has been raging on in North Darfur. The government troops opened fire on internally displaces women, children, and men in the camp just a week ago killing 30 instantly and sending seven more to the hospital for what turned out to be fatal wounds. The army has returned and has been seen setting up camp just a few kilometers from the 80,000 plus camp. The government claimed that it had been fired upon and it is difficult to discount this claim given the amount of manipulation that we see of innocent people on both sides of the conflict here. But the children are the real innocents and 11 perished on that day.

Yet, through it all, I sit at my desk. I meet with villagers. I travel to distant towns across burning sands and I do not hear a thing.

Nearly all the news of these events are harvested from the internet. My experience here for ME has been peaceful. My life has been sheltered by a jakaranda tree. Always watching over me and always quiet. For that I feel blessed and give thanks. Allah Karib - God provides!

I am sorry for not writing over the past month. I had a chance to return home to see many of you face to face and let the blog entries lag. I am back on the job in Darfur for my last five months and we have really picked up the pace. But that reality is already changing.

Ramadan is here. A time when Muslims fast during the day and eat and party like its 1999 at night, every night. This revelrie and suffering combination send many of my employees into a progressive slumber everyday from the time they reach the office to the time they leave around 4pm.

This is only the second day of Ramadan and many are suffering from head and stomach aches. the rainy season usually grants us cool days but these past few days we have not seen rain and it is hot. Not a great complement to the long days without water or food after staying up most of the night eating and talking with friends and family. It is a heady time in Sudan and not one that lends itself to heavy work. Yet work does not wait, so I anticipate taking on more of the burden through this month and will look forward to a more energetic crew in October.

Ramadan kareem my friends.