Armed men attacked a seasonal farming settlement or ‘combo’ in Blue Nile State mid last week. Sources said that the attack occurred at N’djamena village in the western part of Tadamon Locality near the border with Upper Nile State but the sources conflicted on the number of casualties.

Armed men reportedly attacked an outlying camp first then marched to the village of N’djamena and killed residents there. Farmers from surrounding areas fled, leaving behind tractors and other agricultural equipment.

Rafaa, Masalamiya, and Arakeen Arab tribesmen were accused of perpetrating the crimes. The attack came after the murder one of these by unidentified men near Zahra Chol camp.

Sources from farming schemes in Blue Nile along the border with Upper Nile stated that farmers have been displaced from most of the schemes after the incident and that troops from the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) have deployed along the border.  

It is worth noting that Zahra Chol camp and N'Djamena village are seasonal and inhabited by farmers and charcoal workers in the rainy season who abandon it during the summer due to water scarcity.