Darfur: Four people killed, son of trade official kidnapped

In separate incidents in Darfur, four people were killed and three people sustained injuries in the areas of Murnei, Kabkabiya, and Nyala on Thursday. In Kabkabiya a child has been kidnapped by militiamen.

Two armed men shot a displaced woman dead north of Murnei camp, in West Darfur, on Thursday evening. Her husband sustained injuries. They were on their way home from farming when they were attacked.

They opened fire and killed Aziza Mohamed Yousef on the spot. A witness told Radio Dabanga that the husband of Aziza, Abdu Adam, stabbed one of the perpetrators and killed him. The other attacker fled.

In Kabkabiya locality, gunmen raided the home of Hawa Mohamed Adam (27 years) and her husband Hassan Ahmed Adam in El Matar camp in the evening. The four attackers opened fire on Hawa and killed her. Hassan was seriously wounded and has been taken to the hospital in Kabkabiya.

Both incidents have been reported to the police and Unamid (the AU-UN peacekeeping mission in Darfur).

In Ed El Fursan locality in South Darfur, a man was killed by gunmen on the road to Nyala. Another person was injured on Thursday, a source informed Radio Dabanga. While in East Darfur's Yassin locality, a vehicle en route from Ed Dain to Nyala was shot at by bandits in Tor Taan area. One of the passengers was killed on the spot.

Kidnap

Militiamen have kidnapped an 11-year-old boy in Kabkabiya town on Thursday afternoon. The boy, Ahmed Adam Abdallah Babaker, is the son of the deputy of the Chamber of Commerce in Kabkabiya.

A resident in the town told Radio Dabanga that armed men, driving a Land Cruiser with a Dushka machinegun mounted on top, and others riding motorcycles, intercepted Abdallah when he was on his way to his house from his father's shop. “The men seized him at gunpoint and took him to an unknown destination,” the resident said.

By Friday afternoon the kidnappers have not yet contacted the family of the victim to demand a ransom for his release.

Abductions are a recurring phenomenon in Kakbabiya, the resident said, pointing to the proliferation of militia groups that use vehicles and motorcycles to patrol the local markets and bring weapons into the neighbourhoods.

“Authorities should put an end to the abuses by the militiamen and arrest the perpetrators of crimes,” he said.

Camp surrounded

Militiamen have surrounded Shadad camp for displaced people in Shangil Tobaya locality for a week in a row. They accused the residents of being involved with the rebel movements in Darfur.

A community leader told Radio Dabanga from Shadad that militia members have assaulted and verbally abused camp residents who leave the camp to collect firewood and straw. Some of them were beaten with rifle butts or have received death threats.

The leader hopes that the authorities and the African Union-United Nations peacekeepers (Unamid) will intervene and lift the siege on the camp.

Robbery

In a hijack in Kutum, North Darfur, two vehicles were looted by bandits in a Land Cruiser. The vehicles were en route to Abdel Shakur and Malagat, north of Kutum, carrying consumer goods.

The bandits managed to stop the cars and seized the goods. They also stole the money and phones from the passengers.