Darfur mother, child die in Jebel Marra shell blast
A woman and her young son were killed on Thursday night, reportedly while fleeing shell fire from government forces on Darfur’s Jebel Marra.
Russian-made D-30 122 mm howitzer captured by rebels during a battle with the Sudanese army in 2016. In 2018, the Sudan Armed Forces are estimated to have at least 750 of these weapons* (File Photo: RD)
A woman and her young son were killed on Thursday night, reportedly while fleeing shell fire from government forces on Darfur’s Jebel Marra.
One of the relatives of the deceased mother and child told Radio Dabanga that Um El Kheir Younes (37) and her son Adam Yahya (5) were killed by a shell fired by the government forces stationed at the Gobu area, 30 kilometres north of Kass in southern Jebel Marra.
The relative said that the government forces that entered the Gobu area and are stationed there fired heavy artillery shells north of the area on Thursday night. One of the shells fell among people who were fleeing the area. Younes and her son were killed instantly.
On May 25, a woman lost both legs after government forces shelled Sabun El Fagur in Jebel Marra with heavy artillery.
Unamid
As reported previously by Radio Dabanga in mid-May, the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Mission in Darfur (Unamid) Joint Special Representative (JSR) Jeremiah Mamabolo expressed his concerns about the situation in Jebel Marra after a two-day visit to the area.
Unamid reported in a press briefing that Mamabolo travelled by road to Golo in the centre of the Jebel Marra to oversee progress on the establishment of the Mission’s temporary operating base in the area.
*Sudan's estimated military strength in 2018
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