Militiamen target, rape women of village in North Darfur

Militia members reportedly sexually assaulted three women, including a girl, at Tankarara area in North Darfur, on Thursday. The sexual offence is the third in a row in Hillet Ahmed.

The seven men used force of arms to rape their victims. A family member of one of the women told Radio Dabanga that the assault took place in daytime, when the three went out of Hillet Ahmed to fetch hay. They are aged 17, 25 and 27 years.

“Seven militiamen on camels intercepted them on the road, pointed the weapons in their faces, and then repeatedly raped them,” she said.

A witness reported that on 16 June, a group of pro-government militiamen attacked Hillet Ahmed for the second time that week, and sexually assaulted three women. The village, 6km south of Tabit, also witnessed the rapes of thirteen women on the previous Saturday and Sunday.

Tabit rape

Tabit village itself was the scene of a mass rape at the end of October last year. Sudanese military forces from the nearby garrison raped more than 200 women and girls for two consecutive nights. The soldiers then explained that they were ordered to do so, in search for a missing colleague. The men of Tabit were detained and threatened so the soldiers had a free rein in sexually assaulting the women in the village.