Insecurity in North Darfur and South Kordofan continues

Over the past three days, areas north of Kutum town in North Darfur have witnessed a series of robberies and attacks by gunmen, and protests against insecurity in South Kordofan have continued.

Activist Yahya El Khumus told Radio Dabanga that gunmen riding on motorcycles intercepted a lorry north of Kutum and robbed the passengers on Thursday. On Friday, a number of other vehicles were attacked and robbed.

In a separate incident in the area, Adam Mohamed was killed by gunmen chasing the rickshaw he was riding in on Friday.

Protests against the insecurity and violence, and against the UNAMID exit, have taken place all over Darfur in recent months as violent incidents continue to take place in the region.

Incidents of violence reported in Darfur doubled during the second half of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The governor of Central Darfur warned of an increase in this violence after the UNAMID mission officially started its withdrawal from the region on January 1.

Protests against insecurity

In Kadugli, capital of South Kordofan, protests against the rampant insecurity in the city erupted on Friday following the shooting of a resident by a shepherd on Thursday. The victim was watering cows in a creek adjacent to the El Shaeer district in northern Kadugli, when a herdsman suddenly shot at him. He was seriously injured and had to be transferred to Kadugli Hospital.

Angry residents of Kadugli blocked the road leading to Kadugli, and prevented vehicles from entering or leaving, a protestor told Radio Dabanga.

He said that they will only open the road “when the authorities finally decide to act and intervene, in order to stop the recurrent attacks and robberies in the town.’’ At the start of January, Radio Dabanga reported on the recent surge in violence and crime in the western parts of South Kordofan.