43 Berti die in Ziyadiya militia attacks in North Darfur

42 members of the Berti tribe were killed in a large-scale attack by Ziyadiya militiamen on villages in Mellit locality on Saturday. In an attack on Tofaya village on Friday, one villager was killed.

A large group of Ziyadiya members of the paramilitary Border Guards, the Central Reserve Police (Abu Tira), and affiliated militiamen from other parts of Darfur entered the locality in 40 to 50 government Land Cruisers, armed with heavy weapons including mortars.

Adam Amara, Deputy of the Berti King, told Radio Dabanga that they attacked a number of Berti villages and killed 42 civilians. “Eight others were injured. About 30 houses in five villages were destroyed by fire.

“The villagers reported that the attackers took 290 camels, 260 sheep, 240 goats, and eight donkeys when they left,” he added.

He said that on Friday, a resident of Tofaya village, west of Kuma, was killed in a similar attack. “Ziyadiya militiamen stole 25 camels, 65 sheep, 201 goats, four horses, and two donkeys from the village. They plundered 11 shops, taking more than SDG 1 million ($167,000) in cash.”

Amara described the attacks on unarmed Berti villagers on Friday and Saturday as “ethnic cleansing”, and called on the Sudanese government “to perform its duty and protect the civilians who are being murdered in their homes”.