Girl dies in ongoing air raids on Darfur’s Jebel Marra

The Sudanese Air Force continued its bombardments on areas in Jebel Marra on Tuesday. Militiamen and security agents are wreaking havoc near Tur in the south-western part of Jebel Marra.

An air raid on the area of Jawa, south of Deribat in East Jebel Marra, resulted in the death of a 7-year-old girl.

A villager told Radio Dabanga from Jawa that the three barrel bombs dropped by an Antonov killed Mayada Ibrahim Omar, ignited a number of fires and sparked panic among the population.

More than thirteen barrel bombs fell on the villages of Kalo, Boldong, Kineina and Karo in western Jebel Marra on Tuesday, another villager reported. He said he could not identify the losses because of the dense smoke.

'Passage fees'

The road connecting Tur with Fuju in western Jebel Marra remains closed, several sources informed this station.

They said that militiamen impose 'passage fees' on people who want to cross the road. “The fees are SDG10 ($1.60) for a person, and SDG20 for a donkey,” one of them said. “In fact, they rob any one who dares to come close.

“Suleiman Abakar was robbed of his donkey and SDG300 ($49) west of Wita near Tur on Sunday.

Quarrel over market

A community leader reported from Tur that the security apparatus closed the market of Nama camp located between Tur and Kass.

“They issued an official decision closing the weekly market, where the residents of the neighbouring villages used to sell their vegetables, handicrafts, and livestock,” he said. “They then forced the market vendors to leave with their batons.

“Hundreds of villagers had come to the market with their donkeys loaded with lemons and other fruits and vegetables, when this happened. The militiamen in the area allowed them to sell their products on a spot close to the market,” he related.

“As a result, a quarrel erupted between the militiamen and the security agents that ended with the expulsion of the vendors.”