Fire ravages grasslands, shops in Darfur states

In the area of ​​Abu Katkout, el Taweisha locality in North Darfur, a massive fire allegedly raged over 15 kilometres of forests and grasslands.  The Governor of North Darfur state, Osman Kibir, reported to Radio Dabanga that it took two hours to extinguish the fire. Vast tracts of pastures and forests have been destroyed and numbers of livestock died. The Governor called on the state Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Forestry, Eisa Mohamed Abdallah, and the native administration leaders to keep fire lines in order to preserve the grasslands and the forests. Ed Daein marketA witness told Radio Dabanga that on Friday afternoon a fire, caused by a short circuit, broke out in the northwestern part of the Ed Daein market, East Darfur. About 12 shops burned down completely, among them repair shops, a carpentry shop and grain mills. The quickly spreading fire also burned down the house of the director of the Khalid bin Walid Basic School, Adam Haroun Salih, and, partially, the Hikma medical clinic. Also two vehicles under maintenance, a Ford and a Land Rover, were lost. File photo by Albert González Farran/Unamid