Attacker dies after botched robbery in West Darfur

Three displaced men and three militiamen were injured on Monday evening during a highway robbery in West Darfur. Witnesses told Radio Dabanga that the militiamen were operating and moving throughout the area of Krendig 1 and 2 camps near state capital El Geneina. “A displaced student was riding his motorcycle from El Geneina in the direction of Krendig camp at about 8 pm on Monday. He was accosted by nine militiamen who forced him to stop. When they tried to steal his motorcycle, he surprised one of the attackers, grabbed his weapon, and shot three of them. Another armed attacker returned fire, wounding the student and two other displaced people.” The wounded were all transferred to hospital, where one of the militiamen reportedly later died of his wounds. Angry government militiamen then gathered outside the camp. They fired into the air creating fear and panic among the displaced. “On Tuesday morning, the displaced blocked all of the streets surrounding the camp and staged a sit-in protest against the lack of security,” the source said. “Militiamen then arrived and threatened to break into the Krendig market and pillage it if the displaced did not open the roads. They opened fire, injuring water-carriers Samir Adam and Abdul Ghani Adam Abdel Nedi and another young worker.” Listeners complained that while Unamid was notified of the situation immediately on Monday, they did not respond. When a Unamid contingent arrived at the camp the next morning, angry displaced “drove them off’, complaining that Unamid “only responded after the fact”. The local police are now in control, but fear still prevails among the displaced and the situation remains tense. Imminent attack Independent reports reaching Radio Dabanga confirm that movement and transportation to and from El Geneina in West Darfur stopped on Monday. The city’s market was also partially closed owing to frequent reports of an imminent militia attack on the city. Witnesses told Radio Dabanga that the tension rose after a militia leader known as the Wash Albagar. He had been sentenced to death along with three others by a court in El Geneina for the shooting of the former Charity Director of El Masar and his son in front of their home in El Geneina. Witnesses said that the relatives of the dead gathered south of El Geneina which curtailed movement and transportation to and from the El Geneina city. File photo: Two young Darfuris with their water cart at a camp for the displaced (Albert González Farran / Unamid)