Shoot out in Saraf Omra

Cause of clashes still unclear; variation in witness accounts hampers investigation

Three people were killed in a shoot out in North Darfur’ Saraf Omra village, reports emerged on Friday.The other wounded villagers were taken to the hospital in Saraf Omra and Kabkabiya to treat their injuries. Accounts from the village offer various reasons for the deaths.

Abdul Rahim Yahya Hassan, commissioner of the Saraf Omra camp, said that the three citizens, two of the sheikhs (or local leaders), were killed as a result of a fight between citizens in the region.

Some of the people involved in the fight were arrested after the incident. Abdul Rahim Yahya Hassan denied that the Janjaweed, a government-backed militia, was behind the attack.

Situation tense

Meanwhile, citizens of Saraf Omra told Radio Dabanga that the situation was still tense in the region.

One of them said, “I heard gunfire in the village through last morning. Some people are saying that the number of dead people is five.”

Some witnesses recounted army troops moving from Saraf Omra in six cars along with the police and the central reserve forces, also known as Abu Tira.

SLM-AW: Govt troops responsible

Meanwhile, AFP quoted the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement-Abdul Wahid’s (SLA-AW’s) spokesperson Ibrahim Al-Hilu as saying:”Last night, government troops attacked two villages in North Darfur, in the area of Saraf Umra. Seven residents were killed and a number of people fled the villages”

With differing accounts surfacing from different sources, the nature of the clashes and the death toll are difficult to confirm.