Merchant shot dead in South Darfur

Crime committed in broad day light, perpetrators flee the scene on foot

A merchant was shot dead by gunmen in South Darfuri capital of Nyala on Sunday, adding to the high number of recently reported violent deaths in the city.Salah Ahmed, also known as Abu Salah, was shot dead by gunmen while he was chatting with his neighbors outside his house in Haiyyal Massane locality of Nyala. A relative of the deceased told Radio Dabanga, “The armed men shot him while he was about to enter his house. They didn’t give any prior intimation.”

The perpetrators reportedly fled after committing the crime. A lot of citizens bore witness to the shooting and also the murderers fleeing the scene on foot.

Nyala, like a lot of neighborhoods in the rest of Darfur, has seen a sharp rise in sporadic violence of this kind in the recent past, citizens complained. “We would like to demand the dismissal of the commissioner of the locality. We would also like the military barracks in the neighborhood to be evacuated,” a citizen told Radio Dabanga, pointing that the military presence in the city is considered as a threat to the lives and property of civilians in the region.

Though the motives and the agents of the above mentioned attack have not been confirmed yet, Sudanese armed forces and government-backed militia have been blamed for numerous crimes in the recent past.

“The security situation in the city has deteriorated a lot. There are routine assassinations in the neighborhood – three in the last few weeks. The cases of robbery have gone up at night and there’s a threat of weapons being used on the streets of Nyala,” a citizen told Radio Dabanga.

Civilians in Nyala are holding security authorities responsible for their fear. Many say they don’t feel secure from looting and pillaging despite living next door to the government headquarters.

Meanwhile, civic officials, who do not wish to be named, blamed the “new agreements signed by the state” for the current security situation in South Dafur.

“The people who are behind these crimes are just criminals. They have no political backing. They are responsible for the various crimes in the area,” one of the officials said.