‘Abu Tira’ ravage part of Zamzam camp in North Darfur

This morning, a group of paramilitary Central Reserve Police forces ravaged a part of Zamzam camp for the displaced, south of El Fasher, capital of North Darfur. It was a revenge attack after one of their troops was killed. Speaking to Radio Dabanga, a camp sheikh said that problems arose after three Central Reserve forces (popularly known as Abu Tira) stormed the western part of the camp, called Muhajiriya, on Monday evening. “They attempted to pillage one of the shops. The shopkeeper fired in the air to scare them off. Yet, the bullets hit one of the Abu Tira attackers, who died instantly.” “The attackers left, to return at 3 am on Tuesday morning, together with a large group of Abu Tira gunmen in a vehicle mounted with a Dushka machine-gun. They torched more than 20 homes in Muhajiriya, the market place, five mills, two beans-peeling places, and a TV club.” The sheikh said that not much later more Abu Tira forces in six Land Cruisers appeared, who surrounded Muajiriya. “The residents of this part of Zamzam camp are still trapped, as the Abu Tira forces are besieging the place until late Tuesday afternoon.” “The authorities of El Fasher locality or Unamid have not come to help us out so far,” he added. File photo: A patch on the uniform of  the paramilitary Central Reserve Police (Abu Tira) shows an eagle clutching a red sun, over an Eye of Horus. The Arabic text below reads, “Central Reserve: The Police in Service of the People.” (Enough Project/Flickr)  Related:Tense situation in Deleig, Central Darfur (20 October 2014)Border Guard slain in South Darfur’s Dereig camp (20 October 2014)