Nine dead in Border Guards attacks on market, villages in North Darfur

At least nine people were killed and nine others were wounded on Tuesday in attacks by militiamen and elements of the paramilitary Border Guards on the market of Kafod and surrounding villages in El Fasher locality.

“On Tuesday afternoon, when groups of Border Guards and affiliated militiamen raided Kafod market, two people were fatally hit by their bullets,” a vendor reported to Radio Dabanga from the market.

“Those Janjaweed plundered more than 40 shops and stalls. One group loaded the goods in their four-wheel-drive Land Cruisers, and two hijacked vehicles, and left towards their base in the area of Umsayyala, north of Kafod,” he said.

“Not much later, another joint group of Border Guards and militiamen attacked the villages of Lombati, Khardal, Hillet Shamouta, and Um Arda. “Five villagers were killed, and seven were injured,” the vendor said, adding that 300 head of livestock were stolen.

The source commented that “it was a very bad Ramadan day, with all the shooting and panic.

“Fortunately, we were able to take the injured to El Fasher Teaching Hospital for treatment. Today (Wednesday) the bodies of the dead were transported to the cemetery in one long procession.”

Popular Defence Forces

Radio Dabanga reported on Tuesday that two members of the paramilitary Popular Defence Forces (PDF) and a militiaman were killed that morning in clashes at the Kafod market.

The bodies of the two paramilitaries were buried immediately. During the burial, a large group of militiamen from Umsayyala raided the cemetery, and shot dead two of the mourners.  

The militiamen then returned to Kafod, where they started pillaging the market.

The vendor appealed to the North Darfur government to intervene, and “resolve the ongoing conflict between the Border Guards and the PDF in the region”.

The newly appointed governor, Abdelwahed Yousef, has renewed the state of emergency in of North Darfur, and ordered the persecution of criminals and outlaws “with an iron fist”. He stressed in a press conference in El Fasher on 30 June that “the law applies to everyone”, including army and paramilitary forces.