Murder, abduction by militiamen across Darfur

A man has been murdered, four abducted in two separate incidents, and 20 displaced people fired upon in incidents of banditry across Darfur.

On Thursday, Abakar Mohamed Abdallah was shot dead east of Mershing in South Darfur. One of the sheikhs told Radio Dabanga radio that armed militiamen opened fire on Abdallah as he returned to the camp after the funeral,. He was killed outright. The gunmen then made off with his donkey and other possessions.

On Wednesday, armed herdsmen abducted Adoma El Haj and Kajil Abulgasim from the Kila district north of Mershing because of a missing camel.

In a separate incident on Wednesday, armed militiamen driving a vehicle mounted with a Dushka machine gun abducted Mohamed Yagoub Ibrahim and his son Ismail from the Khitir area in eastern Jebel Marra.

Collecting straw

On Thursday, 20 displaced women were attacked by armed militiamen in Darfur, along with the killing of a number of donkeys.

Omda Mukhtar Bosh told Radio Dabanga that militiamen opened fire on the women who were gathering straw in the Mundo area south of Tawila, killing three donkeys on the spot, while the displaced women miraculously survived. Bush said militants threatened to hit, assault, and kill them if they returned to collect straw.

The security forces on Wednesday arrested merchant Abdelmajed Abdallah Bakhit from ithe market of Kutum in North Darfur and took him their offices. A camp sheikh told Dabanga radio that members of the security services raided Bakhit, a merchant in the camp.

The sheikh expressed his fear that the victim was subjected to torture and ill-treatment by members of the security services, and appealed to the human rights organisations to intervene to release him.

Ein Siro

For the second week in a row, militiamen have continued to steal money, property, and livestock of residents of Ein Siro and the areas north-west of Kutum in North Darfur.

Residents told Radio Dabanga said that the attackers plundered Mustariha village before burning it on Tuesday.

They said the militants stole ceilings, doors and school equipment and at the same time cut mango and orange trees.

On Tuesday and Wednesday 60 displaced families arrived from Deleiba and Mustariha areas to Kutum, in addition to the arrival of other families to the Abdelshakour area.

A number of them told Radio Dabanga that dozens of families are preparing to leave, but have no means to transport their animals and vehicles.

Panic

The population is gripped by panic, as reports of robberies increase. Witnesses say people are robbed as they move on their own in the markets and roads.

The commander of Kutum Garrison in North Darfur, Brigadier El Sadig El Mahdi Abdelrahman, acknowledged that the Ein Siro area and the surrounding villages were exposed to burning and theft by what he called outlaws whom he said “have come from all directions, especially Kutum and Kabkabiya”.