Militias ‘sent to village by N. Darfur security’ loot, rape

Pro-government militiamen, allegedly sent by the North Darfur security from El-Fasher to the village of El-Ayet Jar El-Nebi, raped three women and looted eight people in the area in two consecutive days of attacks, according to local reports. The troops entered the town located in the eastern part of the state, El-Ayet locality, on Sunday morning, 6 January, and began the plundering in the same evening, witnesses recounted to Radio Dabanga.Three men were looted and were stripped from all of their belongings, including of their mobile phones. Their names are Mohammed Bireedo, Ahmad Nour al-Din and Osman Ali. On the same occasion, three women were collectively raped by the perpetrators, sources added. According to them, the militia group is composed of about 150 members and is led by an army Lieutenant. The day after, local residents gathered a delegation of seven people responsible for informing the El-Ayet commissioner about the incidents and for asking him to expel the militias. Nevertheless, they predicted the request would lead to more looting and decided to shut down the market before anything happened. Reports suggest that citizens also gathered any kind of weapons they could find to protect themselves from attacks by the militiamen. Yet, five people were looted on Monday morning in a neighborhood in the eastern side of El-Ayet, sources informed Radio Dabanga, adding that all of their money and mobile phones were taken. Three of the victims are Abdullah Mohamed Adam, Mohammed Dualbet and Ibrahim Mohamed Ali. This event led residents from the western part of the town to create popular patrols to protect their homes and possessions, one of them said.But members of the patrols eventually clashed with the perpetrators, what led to the injury of two people: Adel Abdullah Nur and Abdul Baki Mohamed Seddik, sources asserted.Radio Dabanga file photo