The governor of Darfur on Sunday called on civilians in this vast region of western Sudan to arm themselves. This was the latest call of this kind after more than six weeks of war between rival generals in a country already prone to guns.
“I call on the people of Darfur, young and old, women and men, to take up arms to defend their property,” tweeted former rebel leader Minni Minnawi, who is now close to the army.
Hardest hit by fighting with Khartoum, Darfur, which borders Chad, was ravaged by a deadly war as early as the 2000s.
According to local residents, since the fighting began on April 15, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane’s army and General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo’s paramilitaries have been fighting “with all kinds of weapons”.
Armed civilians and tribal or rebel fighters are also fighting alongside, according to the United Nations, raising the specter of civil war in a country where 6.6% of 45 million people own a firearm, according to the Small Arms Survey (SAS) research project.
According to the non-governmental organization ACLED, more than 1,800 people have died in six weeks of fighting, more than half of them in Darfur.
The army had already called on retired soldiers to take up arms again on Friday.
And in early May, hundreds of members of the Beja tribes demonstrated in the east to demand weapons from General Burhane.
Other actors could also make the choice of weapons.
“People who were part of nonviolent movements are now considering arming themselves to protect themselves,” says pro-democracy activist Raga Makawi.
According to the UN, the war has also displaced more than a million people and more than 300,000 refugees in neighboring countries in six weeks.
According to the United Nations, more than half the population of Sudan, one of the poorest countries in the world, now needs humanitarian aid to survive.