Sudanese ICRC staff member killed in North Darfur
A Sudanese staff member of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was killed in El Fasher, capital of North Darfur, on Thursday afternoon. ICRC stated that Najmaddin Salih Musa Bishara, a Sudanese warehouse storekeeper, was hit by a stray bullet on his way home from work in a private vehicle, accompanied by three others. Bishara’s office is located near the El Fasher airport.A local source told Radio Dabanga that a sniper purposely targeted the Red Cross staff member on its way home in a private car. The witness said he was shot near the guesthouse of the Governor of North Darfur, Osman Kibir.“The circumstances remain unclear”, Jean-Christophe Sandoz, the head of the ICRC, said in a press release on Friday. “We are deeply saddened by the death of our colleague.” The organisation is in touch with the police investigating the case.Suspension not settledThe activities of ICRC in Sudan were suspended on 1 February this year, “in compliance with an official request to that effect from the Sudanese government’s Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC)”, the organisation stated on 2 February. The Swiss-based organisation is trying to settle the dispute by sending a high level delegation to Sudan. The talks with the authorities did not yet result in an agreement.This is the second time in little over a month that someone working for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement in Sudan has been killed. On 16 February, a Sudanese Red Crescent Society volunteer died in a landmine explosion in South Kordofan. Sandoz added: “We call on all those who bear weapons to respect people working for the ICRC or for the broader International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, and indeed everyone carrying out humanitarian work in Sudan.” Early Thursday morning, El Fasher was shaken by a fire in the city’s university, which was ignited by masked gunmen. On Wednesday, militiamen driving a Land Cruiser kidnapped a banker after they had intercepted his car in the city. And on Tuesday, a number of people died when police and border guards clashed inside El Fasher. File photo: Related:Landmine blast kills five in South Kordofan (13 February 2014) Red Cross suspension ‘death sentence for Darfur’: Omda (3 February 2014)
A Sudanese staff member of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was killed in El Fasher, capital of North Darfur, on Thursday afternoon.
ICRC stated that Najmaddin Salih Musa Bishara, a Sudanese warehouse storekeeper, was hit by a stray bullet on his way home from work in a private vehicle, accompanied by three others. Bishara’s office is located near the El Fasher airport.
A local source told Radio Dabanga that a sniper purposely targeted the Red Cross staff member on its way home in a private car. The witness said he was shot near the guesthouse of the Governor of North Darfur, Osman Kibir.
“The circumstances remain unclear”, Jean-Christophe Sandoz, the head of the ICRC, said in a press release on Friday. “We are deeply saddened by the death of our colleague.” The organisation is in touch with the police investigating the case.
Suspension not settled
The activities of ICRC in Sudan were suspended on 1 February this year, “in compliance with an official request to that effect from the Sudanese government’s Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC)”, the organisation stated on 2 February. The Swiss-based organisation is trying to settle the dispute by sending a high level delegation to Sudan. The talks with the authorities did not yet result in an agreement.
This is the second time in little over a month that someone working for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement in Sudan has been killed. On 16 February, a Sudanese Red Crescent Society volunteer died in a landmine explosion in South Kordofan.
Sandoz added: “We call on all those who bear weapons to respect people working for the ICRC or for the broader International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, and indeed everyone carrying out humanitarian work in Sudan.”
Early Thursday morning, El Fasher was shaken by a fire in the city’s university, which was ignited by masked gunmen. On Wednesday, militiamen driving a Land Cruiser kidnapped a banker after they had intercepted his car in the city. And on Tuesday, a number of people died when police and border guards clashed inside El Fasher.
File photo:
Related:
Landmine blast kills five in South Kordofan (13 February 2014)
Red Cross suspension ‘death sentence for Darfur’: Omda (3 February 2014)
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