Nuba fear South Kordofan will become ‘a second Darfur’

A farmer and a guard were killed in two separate incidents in the Nuba Mountains, South Kordofan, last week. Two policemen and four civilians were wounded in firefights and armed robberies. Many Nuba fear that South Kordofan will become ‘a second Darfur’.

Farmer Salah Baballah was shot by unknown assailants near Tabaliya village in Habila on Saturday. He died instantly, Abdelrahim Kunda reported.

He explained that when the farmer did not return home on Saturday, a search posse from the village found his body with gunshots in his back and legs. They also found empty Dushka machine gun cartridges, and traces of a four-wheel drive vehicle.

Two days earlier, a guard was killed in an armed robbery in Abbasiya Tagali.

Speaking to Radio Dabanga, a listener reported that 70-year-old Hamed, guard of the Abbasiya Tagali tax office was strangled to death on Thursday night by a group of robbers. The attackers emptied the office’s treasury and fled to an unknown destination.

Wounded

In the area of Wakara in Abbasiya locality, a policeman was wounded in a firefight on Saturday.

An eyewitness told Radio Dabanga that an armed group ambushed a vehicle carrying traders from the Um El Kheirat weekly market to the area of Wakara, and robbed the passengers of their belongings.

The source said that policemen from Um El Kheirat rushed to the scene of the incident and clashed with the perpetrators. One of the policemen was wounded and had to be transferred to a nearby hospital for treatment.

Abdelrahim Kunda reported that Shanabla camel herders shot policeman Abdelrahman Habib and three residents of El Sereif village, southeast of Dalami, on Friday. The policeman and a group of villagers were searching for livestock stolen from the area the day before.

Kunda added that Ahmed Kajo (30) sustained bullet wounds when he was shot by an unknown person near Dalami on Thursday.

Attacks on farmers, traders

The source said that several areas in South Kordofan witness attacks by militant herders on farmers. “In most cases, the government authorities are unable to arrest the perpetrators.”

He further pointed to reports about armed robberies and the plundering of markets in the eastern parts of South Kordofan. “The eastern localities seem to remain forgotten, and are neglected by the media.

“The regular plundering of weekly markets and attacks on traders is becoming a threat to commercial activities,” Kunda added. “Many Nuba fear that South Kordofan will become a second Darfur.”

Radio Dabanga reported on Friday that two farmers were killed in separate incidents in Abu Jubeiha in eastern South Kordofan. Army forces stationed near Dalami requested villagers to provide fuel to track thieves, but the villagers were unable to provide it.