Camel herders beat couple near South Darfur camp

Three camel herders tied down and severely beat a married couple in Tebeldina area, south of El Salam camp in South Darfur on Thursday. Mahjoub Adam Tabaldiya, a sheikh of El Salam camp for the internally displaced people, told Radio Dabanga that three masked camel herders wearing military uniforms attacked the house of Abdel Karim Obeid (49 years) and his wife Khadija Mohamed Adam (27 years) in Tebeldina area, about 15 km south of El Salam, at 2 am. “They took him and his wife at gunpoint out of the house, into the open. 2 km further, in Derdoma area, the herders tied them with ropes and beat them severely with whips and a stick,” Tabaldiya said. The victims remained tied until 8 am on Thursday. He added that the camel herders had threatened the couple because they returned to Tebeldina area after they had fled to Sani Deleiba in Bielel locality, following the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces’ (RSF) attacks. More than 100,000 people fled to Sani Deleiba during the assaults by the government RSF on villages in South Darfur in March 2014. Tabaldiya pointed out that about 75 farming families from Tebeldina fled in the beginning of last May, and have returned. He demanded the South Darfur state government to stop the attacks and let the returnees cultivate their lands.Woman beaten by herders In a separate incident at Tebeldina area, 31-year-old Madina Ibrahim was subjected to beating and threatening by two camel herders on Wednesday afternoon, while she was out to fetch water.File photo (Radio Dabanga archive)