Ongoing lawlessness closes West Darfur markets

The markets of El Zariba, El Jamarik, El Aradeiba, and El Soug El Arabi in the West Darfur capital of El Geneina, have been closed at night due to ongoing lawlessness and security incidents. One of the merchants told Radio Dabanga that the authorities informed them to close in the evening “because of the lawlessness and chaos”.

As reported by Radio Dabanga this week, it has been over a month since the last wave of violence engulfed El Geneina. In April, at least 144 people died and more than 233 were wounded when violence erupted after two Masalit tribesmen were killed by Arab tribesmen. “Driving through the Hay El Jebel neighbourhood of El Geneina is like driving through a ghost town,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) wrote in a statement.

The Bank of Sudan, El Geneina branch, issued a decision to close all banks in the city on Tuesday morning in protest against the armed attack on the Bank of Khartoum on Monday after the end of the official work hours. The sources said that shots were fired from a vehicle towards the security guards of the Bank of Khartoum before the perpetrators fled.

In East Darfur, the governor, Mohamed Aliyu, reported the recurrence of murders in and around Ed Daein during the recent period, pointing to the killing of one man and the injury of others yesterday morning in the El Jalabi neighbourhood in Ed Daein.

In press statements, the governor of East Darfur warned of the dire consequences of the phenomenon of carrying weapons among adolescents, explaining that the state had settled the phenomenon at an earlier time by taking decisions to arrest the violators and burn the tools of crime.

He noted the evolution of crime to a large extent, noting that more than five murders have occurred since the beginning of the month of Ramadan. He said that the state government called for a meeting of all segments of society today, Wednesday, to reach decisions that lead to resolving the phenomenon, explaining that the decisions will affect the state’s communities.