Jebel Marra: Kidnapping and cattle theft

One person was kidnapped and another sustained injuries in an attack by militiamen in western Jebel Marra on Thursday. Three people are still missing after they fled. Dozens of livestock were stolen.

A listener told Radio Dabanga that the militiamen, driving about 60 vehicles mounted with guns, attacked a group of shepherds who were letting their cattle graze in Samra, in the west of Jebel Marra. They accused the shepherds of collaborating with the armed rebels and beat them.

They abducted shepherd Ahmed Saha Ismail and seriously injured Suleiman Ahmed Ibrahim, according to the listener. He estimated that 300 sheep and some camels were stolen. Three shepherds fled the scene in fear. “They have not returned until Frirday afternoon.”

The listener added that these militiamen are responsible for the torching of a number of abandoned villages in west Jebel Marra. “The pro-government militiamen were en route from Kabkabiya to the battlefield in Jebel Marra, to fight against the rebel SLM-AW.

“On their way, they torched the villages that families have abandoned in fear of the fighting. I saw how three or four villages were burned, and smoke rising from the direction of others.”