Ten abducted in South Darfur

Ten residents of El Salam camp for the displaced in Beilel locality, near Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, were abducted by militiamen today (Sunday). “Government-backed Janjaweed on camels and in vehicles surrounded the camp at 6pm on Saturday,” sheikh Mahjoub Adam Tabaldiya of El Salam camp reported to Radio Dabanga. “They only left at about 1pm today, after government and Unamid forces intervened.” “During their withdrawal, the gunmen took ten people with them. Four of them were later released. They kept Idris Hamid Muella (65), Adam Ishag Abakar (50), Ishag Adam Abdel Karim (50), Ahmed Bakhit Abakar (45), El Amin Abdallah Hamad (42), and Mohamed Abdallah Saleh (26). “The kidnappers demand a ransom of SDG50,000 ($8,700) for each of them, as well as permission to freely enter the camp, masked and armed,” Tabaldiya said. The siege of the camp led to the closure of the markets and the shops at the camp, “even after the gunmen left”. Employees of organisations working in the camp sought refuge in Nyala. The camp sheikh appealed to the authorities to intervene, free the kidnapped camp residents, and bring the kidnappers to justice. File photo by Albert González Farran/Unamid Related:‘Militiamen terrorise Darfur’s El Salam camp’: Sheikh (18 May 2014) Assaults on South Darfur El Salam camp population continue (2 April 2014) Militiamen resume assaults on South Darfur camp residents (25 March 2014) 18,000 newly displaced arrive at South Darfur camps; militias surround El Salam (3 March 2014)