Herders accused of killing 3 farmers

Gunmen, who witnesses believe to be herders, were accused of having shot dead two residents from camp Kereinek, West Darfur, on Monday morning, 12 November. On a separate incident, witnesses have accused herders of killing another farmer recently in West Darfur. The displaced, Adam Ahmed Ibrahim, and his son were shot inside their own farm, located about three hours away from the camp, witnesses told Radio Dabanga. According to reports, the perpetrators had entered the victims’ farm at nighttime with their livestock and the displaced got shot when they tried expelling the gunmen from their land. The victims, sources recounted, had fled their village of Rakubah during wartime to camp Kereinek. Similar incidents Similar incidents have happened in the area recently, according to what sources told Radio Dabanga. Herders have reportedly killed Abbaker Ismail inside his farm, located at Hummaidah area, south of Azimi, east of El-Geneina. A source said that ‘herders always let their livestock graze in the farms, and when farmers object it, they are faced with weapons and murder threats’. Reduced food rations The displaced and activists from camp Kereinek attribute the critical situation to the reduced food rations and to the disappearance of thousands of names from the World Food Programme (WFP) food distribution lists. Both factors forced the displaced to harvest food in their farms located outside the camps, despite facing enormous security risks, continuous attacks by gunmen and lack of protection, they explained.   A camp’s resident appealed to the WFP to not leave the displaced without services ‘because peace has not yet prevailed, the lands are still occupied and security is still missing in Darfur’.See also: Repeated herders’ attacks in Korma (12 November 2012)