Central Darfur shootings leave five dead, two injured

Five people, including two police officers, were shot dead and two others sustained bullet wounds in separate incidents in Central Darfur on Saturday.

In the area of Shawa in Zalingei locality, two police officers were killed by gunmen, as they tried to prevent the theft of an ambulance.

The Central Darfur authorities reported in a press statement on Sunday that the ambulance had transported a woman from Nierteti to Zalingei, capital of Central Darfur, and was on its way back, when a group of gunmen intercepted the vehicle.

“They immediately shot dead the two policemen guarding the ambulance,” a resident of Zalingei confirmed to this station.

The Central Darfur authorities as well reported that a group of gunmen stole a police car in the area of Shawa on Friday morning. The vehicle was on its way from Nyala, capital of South Darfur, to Zalingei.

Police forces managed to recover the car a few hours later.

No reason

Speaking to Radio Dabanga, a witness reported that two army soldiers from the garrison east of Deleig, “suddenly and without any reason”, began to fire at seven young men in the town.

“Saad Adam Ismail, the son of the mayor of Deleig was hit,” he said.

“A team was formed that hunted down the culprits. In the ensuing gunfight, a member of the team was shot dead, and not much later the two soldiers as well, after their ammunition had run out.”

He added that the market of Deleig remained closed on Sunday “as a precautionary measure by the locality’s security committee”.

Nierteti

In Nierteti, a displaced man was shot by a member of the armed forces on Saturday morning.

The incident occurred near the Southern Nierteti camp, when two army soldiers stopped Adam Idris Abaker for an unknown reason.

“Abaker refused, and when they wanted to halt him by force, he took his knife, and stabbed one of the soldiers,” a camp elder reported. “His colleague then fired three bullets at him.”

Abaker was taken to the hospital of Nierteti.