Darfur farmers dead, injured, herders abducted

A farmer was killed by a herder near Kass, South Darfur, today. On Tuesday, herders injured an elderly farmer in the same area. In Beleil locality, about 1,800 livestock destroyed large tracts of farmland. In Tawila locality, North Darfur, militiamen abducted four herders and stole their sheep on Tuesday evening. Also in Kassab, Kutum locality, herdsmen drove their camels and cattle onto farms.

A farmer told Radio Dabanga that a number of farmers had driven livestock they found on their farms into a corral near Kass. “When one of the owners found his animals in the corral, he severely beat the guard with his whip, and released the livestock,” he said.

A search party composed of farmers tracked the herder this (Wednesday) afternoon. When they approached him, he fired at them, killing farmer Ahmed Abdallah instantly, and fled.

The source added that in the same area, two herdsmen assaulted a farmer who attempted to drive their livestock from his farm.

“They severely beat the farmer, Sheikh Abdallah Ahmad Abdelmajid (65) with whips. He sustained serious injuries and had to be taken to a health centre in Turr for treatment.”

In Beleil locality, South Darfur, gunmen in military uniforms drove their camels and cattle onto farms in the area of Meina, Aradeiba El Omda, and Jabarona earlier this week.

A farmer reported to Radio Dabanga that the about 1,800 animals destroyed large tracts of farmland. He said that they reported the incident to the authorities.

“They sent a force of in six Land Cruisers, that avoided the place where the herders were gathering, and did nothing to expel the livestock from the farms.”

North Darfur

Militiamen abducted four herders in Tawila locality, North Darfur, on Tuesday evening.

The father of one of the abductees reported to Radio Dabanga that militiamen riding camels attacked a group of herders grazing their livestock in the area of Batano, east of Tawila at about 7 pm.

They seized herders Osman Hussein Adam (12), Abdelazim Saleh Osman (13), Ali Nur Daoud (14), and Mohammed Ramadan Khater (35), and 700 sheep, and took them in the direction of Um Julbakh, he said.

The incident was reported to the police of Tawila and of El Fasher, capital of North Darfur.

Also in Kassab, Kutum locality, herdsmen drove their camels and cattle onto farms on Tuesday. Farmers told Radio Dabanga that “the losses are huge. The crops of eight farms with potatoes and onions were entirely destroyed”.

The affected farmers reported the incidents to the authorities in Kutum, “to no avail”.

In Birkat Seira, Saraf Umra locality, farmers handed an appeal to the authorities and the herders in the area to protect them from attacks, so they can harvest their crops.