Cattle thieves kill two in Mellit, North Darfur

Two people were killed and four others wounded in a shooting north of Mellit in North Darfur on Tuesday. The state government has announced new decrees in an attempt to combat the security crisis.

The incident occurred in the area of Ahmed village near the water pumps, 2 km north of Mellit. Locals allege that the perpetrators belonged to the Beni Omran tribe, and those they shot to the Berti tribe.

The armed men stole about a hundred sheep from herder Adam Hussein. A group of people tracked them down but they opened fire on their pursuers and killed Idris Ishag Abusalambo on the spot. Five others were wounded, including Abubakr Ahmed Jido. His serious injuries were treated at El Fasher hospital, where he died on Tuesday afternoon.

The locals claimed that immediately after the confrontation the perpetrators abandoned the sheep and fled in the direction of the army garrison in Mellit.

Students asked to improve security

In El Fasher city, the capital of North Darfur state, the deputy governor announced ten new decrees to improve the security during a student congress on Tuesday.

Adam Hamid Anahla called on the students from private and public universities in the state to unite their efforts and “fight anything that breaches the security and safety” in North Darfur. Anahla made his announcement while addressing the 10th Congress of the North Darfur Students.

The state government of Governor Abdelwahid Yousef Ibrahim has launched a campaign to curb the raids, robberies, attacks and poor security. A number of vehicles and motorcycles were seized in a raid by a joint security force at the beginning of July.

Other decrees in the state ban so-called security checkpoints and toll gates set up by others than army staff or police agents on all state roads, vehicles without number plates, wearing the kadamool, a veil covering the face, carrying arms by non-regular forces, and 'illegal financial transactions'.