NYALA, Sudan, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Sudanese government on Friday accused armed rebels of creating clashes inside a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) as Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir visited the camp.
"A number of IDPs rejecting the President of the Republic's visit to Kalma IDP camp fired gunshots from inside the camp at security forces, wounding a government soldier," South Darfur State's government said in a statement.
After that, clashes erupted between the group supporting the visit of the president and the opposing group from the armed movements which prevented IDPs from welcoming the president, the statement added.
At least three IDPs were killed and 26 others injured in the clashes between government forces and the protesting IDPs, United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur said earlier in the day.
The Kalma camp has witnessed demonstrations against al-Bashir's visit to the camp since Tuesday.
The camp was established in February 2004 in Bileil, some 15 km east of Nyala, the capital city of South Darfur State.
According to the UN World Food Programme and the International Organization for Migration, Kalma, which accommodates 126,200 IDPs, is the biggest IDP camp in Darfur.
The IDPs started to arrive at the camp in 2004 to flee the fighting in Shattaya, villages in the southeast of Jebel Marra, as well as Mukjar and Murni in West Darfur State and areas around Netaiga.
The Sudanese authorities accuse the majority of Kalma IDPs of being loyal to the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdul-Wahid Mohamed al Nur, a major armed rebel group in Darfur which refuses to sign a peace deal with the Khartoum government.
