Omda escapes murder attempt, Unamid drives militia from Tawila, North Darfur

Musa El Taher Bush, the Omda of the Rwanda camp for the displaced in Tawila locality, North Darfur, survived an assassination attempt on Wednesday evening. Bush himself reported to Radio Dabanga that two government-backed militiamen, one named Hamed Sheiba, and the other Ali Hamed, raided his home in the camp on Wednesday at about 6.30pm. “They pointed their guns at me, but fortunately, Ahmed Yahya of the Central Reserve Forces (known as Abu Tira), and Adam Osman Jido of the Sudan Armed Forces rushed to my aid. The attackers ran as soon as Yahya and Jido entered.” The Omda remarked that the attack came against the backdrop of his complaints about the authorities, the Sudanese army, and Unamid, whom he accused of “doing nothing” to protect the displaced against the continuing assaults by government-backed militiamen. Unamid Multiple sources told Radio Dabanga that a Unamid force in armoured vehicles expelled a large group of militia troops out of Tawila town at about 9pm on Wednesday evening.  The militiamen, who under the command of Badr Abdel Rahman Abu Kineish raided the town on Wednesday afternoon, left in the direction of their base at Um Jalbakh, located 15km east of Tawila. The sources said that the militiamen, in more than 20 armed Land Cruisers, others on motorcycles and camels, assaulted and robbed a large number of citizens in Tawila. When they were driven out of the town by the Unamid troops, they fired into the air with various weapons, which terrified the population. File photo by Albert González Farran/Unamid Related: Militiamen search in vain for rebels in Tawila, North Darfur, loot market instead (14 May 2014) Villagers in North Darfur’s Tawila repel militia attacks (14 May 2014) Gunmen fire over South Darfur camp, Unamid policemen flee (8 May 2014)