Newly displaced beaten, robbed; no fuel, goods in Kutum, North Darfur

Militiamen ambushed ten Land Rovers en route from Disa to the Kassab camp for the displaced in Kutum locality, North Darfur, on Wednesday. The vehicles were transporting a large number of newly displaced from the area of Disa to the Kassab camp on Wednesday morning, when militiamen intercepted them in the area of Khor Eweija, 4km northwest of Kutum town, one of the passengers told Radio Dabanga. “The government-backed Janjaweed on camels and horses beat us severely with their whips. Some of the passengers sustained serious injuries. They then robbed us of all the belongings we had taken on our flight, including our landownership documents, and other important papers. They also took the licenses of the ten Land Rovers. Everything was loaded on their animals, and they left.” Unprecedented Kutum town itself is still cut off from the supply of vital consumer goods and fuel, since the Rapid Support Forces launched their widespread attacks on villages in the area last month. A resident of Kutum town told Radio Dabanga that “the scarcity of fuel and basic commodities is unprecedented in the history of the town”. File photo Related:Fleeing villagers assaulted, robbed in Kutum, North Darfur (8 April 2014)Sudanese Air Force bombs Um Baru, RSF attacks in Kutum, North Darfur (8 April 2014)Rebels expelled, areas bombed in Kutum, North Darfur (6 April 2014)Acute fuel shortage in Kabkabiya, North Darfur (3 April 2014)At least 15 villages raided in Kutum, North Darfur (31 March 2014)At least 10 dead, 20 injured in RSF attacks on Kutum, North Darfur (26 March 2014)Attacks in North Darfur’s Kutum displace more than 30,000 (17 March 2014)