Mounted militia pillage settlement in North Darfur

Forty gunmen on horses and camels pillage Um Harouf villageAn armed group on Sunday raided and robbed the village of Um Harouf in El Laiet Jar Elnabi in North Darfur. Witnesses told Radio Dabanga that more than 40 armed men on camel- and horse-back opened heavy fire in the air while they raided the village and broke all the commercial and trade centers as well as houses. They robbed all the properties and belongings inside, including goods, personal belongings, cell phones, food commodities and cattle.

The witnesses also stated that the armed group beat and tortured anyone whom they captured or who tried to resist.

The commissioner of El Laiet Jar Elnabi, Abdul Rahman Yunis, stated in a press conference that police and military clashed with the armed group and forced it to flee to the west. The residents of the eastern regions of the state raised a complaint to the government of North Darfur in a written memo last week. They demanded immediate intervention to stop violations carried out by local militias in the region and to provide security and stability.