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USF Libraries Exhibits

Maps Showing Destruction

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Source: United States of America Department of State, Humanitarian Information Unit (2007). Destroyed villages in 2007.

The Janjaweed militia and the government of Sudan employed scorched-earth polices as a way to annihilate non-Arabized communities in Darfur. This policy was achieved by burning homes and destroying villages.

Villages belonging to the Fur, Zaghawa, Dajo, Tunjur, Berti and Massalit communities were major targets of the attacks because these communities were considered rebels against Khartoum and government rule. The destruction was very systematic, as most of the villages that were destroyed belonged to people from the non-Arabized communities. Approximately 50% of the villages that were burned down or destroyed were located in Western Darfur, which also happened to be the homeland of most of the non-Arabized tribes.

When the major conflict started in 2003, South Darfur, which is mostly inhabited by Arabized tribes like the Reizigat, Taaisha, Habbaniya and Misseriya, had fewer villages destroyed. The majority of the villages destroyed  were in areas that that were predominantly inhabited by the Dajo and Birgio, who are non-Arab tribes.