Cablegate: Darfur: Civilians Shot by Amis in El Geneina

VZCZCXRO3025
PP RUEHMA RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #2836 3461646
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 121646Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5549
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS KHARTOUM 002836

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV MOPS PHUM PREF AU UN SU
SUBJECT: DARFUR: CIVILIANS SHOT BY AMIS IN El GENEINA

REF: KHARTOUM 02826

1. AMIS contacts report that on the morning of December 10,
mourners gathered at the burial of 15 people killed during the Sirba
incident (reftel) assaulted members of an AMIS patrol observing the
event. Shortly thereafter, the same mob burned down the El Geneina
Civilian Police (CIVPOL) station. AMIS ordered the patrol and all
other AMIS staff back to the camp in anticipation of further
unrest.

2. At approximately 10:30 a.m., AMIS activated the camp alarm when
troops observed men armed with machine guns and RPGs to the west of
the camp. A group of about 100 people then approached the base on
the north side; the Sector Commander approached them to attempt to
calm the situation down. They assaulted him and took his Thuraya
phone. At 11:40 a.m., the gunmen attacked the AMIS camp with RPGs
and AK-47 fire; while most shots were fired overhead, some rounds
impacted inside the camp.

3. According to AMIS contacts, the mob on the north side threw
rocks at the soldiers and attempted to penetrate the concertina
wire. The AMIS protection force troops shot two protesters, killing
one and injuring one. A second protestor was killed when he
attempted to take a weapon from one of the AMIS soldiers and the
weapon discharged. The mob dispersed after the three men fell.
Firing continued until 12:20 p.m., when three truckloads of Sudanese
Armed Forces troops arrived to disperse the remaining demonstrators.
At 1:00 p.m., the AMIS protection force physician arrived and
administered medical attention to the wounded man, who had been shot
in the shoulder.

4. At 2:00 p.m., Fursha tribal leaders from the Sirba region and
other civil authorities visited the camp and expressed their support
for AMIS. They could not identify the two dead, but stated that the
wounded man was from El Fasher.

HUME

© Scoop Media