South Darfur market closed for second day in security protest

Stalls and shops in the market of Kass in South Darfur were closed for the second day in a row yesterday, in a protest by traders against the kidnapping of merchant Adam Abdallah on Sunday evening and the locality’s loss of security.

This month, the northern areas of Kass have witnessed three separate incidents, allegedly by the same militants, all of which were linked to ransom.

Last month, Kass witnessed hijacking of an agricultural tractor belonging to the family of the late Abdelgader Mansour. They asked for SDG 100,000 for its return, but they finally settled for SDG 25,000*. Observers in Kass said the hijackers would take the stolen items to El Zaki group, a well-known group in the area that had previously hijacked a Kass hospital vehicle now used to carry out armed robberies on the Nyala-Zalingei road.

Released

Militants have released farmers Abboud Adam, Anwar Hussein, and Haroun Adam Ibrahim who were kidnapped from their farms in the northern areas of Tawila in North Darfur a month ago, after mediation led by notables of the area.

Relatives of the released farmers said the kidnapping took place a month ago after herders’ cattle were stolen by other groups, but were seized as an attempt to exert pressure.

Last month, farmers of Tawila complained about the harassment by herders who prevented them from farming under the pretext that the land was not their property.

One of the locality sheikhs said herders in the areas of Tabit, Kolgei and Takmari refused to allow the villagers to farm there.

*The official rate for the US Dollar quoted by the Central Bank of Sudan is SDG 6.6667, however on the ‘parallel market’, the Dollar was trading for more than SDG 21 on the streets of Khartoum on Sunday.