Sudanese soldiers die in South Darfur shootout

Clashes between army soldiers and gunmen resulted in a number of deaths and injuries in Kafia Kingi, El Radoom locality in South Darfur on Friday.

Some witnesses reported that two members of the army and three gunmen were killed. One man was wounded, while Omda Ali Jabir told Radio Dabanga that four members of the army were killed and three others were wounded, while two gunmen were wounded.

He said that the incident began on Friday when three gold miners on a motorcycle passed through an inspection gate of Kafia Kingi without stopping, which prompted one of the soldiers at the gate to open fire.

The shooting resulted in the injury of two miner, while the third escaped, only to return with a number of men on motorcycles. They killed the army soldier at the gate, and then attacked another group of soldiers, and reportedly shot three of them dead and wounded three others.

Army soldiers Fadul Ayesh and Abdelkarim Mohamed were killed, as well as gunmen Mohamed Adam, Ahmed Mousa, and Jamal Ali. Mousa Bushara was wounded.

The omda said that the gunmen then moved towards the market of the town and set fire to a café. The fire soon spread across the market and destroyed a large part of it.

The authorities sent forces from Nyala and El Radoom to contain the shooting. The attackers fled the town and have not been arrested yet.

An informed source told Radio Dabanga from Kafia Kingi that the 30 gunmen involved in the violent incident are members of a militia led by Ali Kushayb, who has been indicted for crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC), has fled Sudan, apparently in fear of arrest by the transitional government.

On Monday, gunmen on motorcycles hijacked a vehicle belonging to the Roads and Bridges Company on the Rahid El Berdi and Tiwal road in South Darfur. They then headed towards Um Dafug, that borders the Central African Republic.

A joint team of police and army members moved to pursue the attackers.