Empty roads after hijacks in North Darfur

Members of a paramilitary group hijacked vehicles in Tawila locality, North Darfur on Monday. A hijack attempt in Kutum resulted in the driver being wounded. Drivers of commercial vehicles in Kutum refuse to take the road.

The paramilitaries, riding camels, fired bullets at two commercial vehicles on their way to shopping on the Tawila-Koninga road. After the vehicles stopped they seized the money, mobile phones and other properties the passengers carried. They made-off with both vehicles, Omda Mukhtar Bosh reported to Radio Dabanga.

Also on Monday, armed men shot and injured a driver on the road from Kutum to El Fasher. The incident led to the stop of transportation between both areas.

A witness told this station that four paramilitaries tried to stop Abdelsalam Ismail Harun's vehicle at Shagel Nakhara. Ismail Harun did not stop his car, prompting the armed men to open fire. He was shot in both legs.

This accident, too, led to the complete stop of transportation between Kutum and El Fasher road on Monday.

In addition, a crowd of drivers of commercial vehicles has started to appear at the gate of Kutum town, out of fear of attacks by militiamen and armed men, the witness reported. Tawila and Kutum localities have witnessed a spree of hijacks and abductions in the past months.