Thousands protest in South Darfur after killing of four civilians in ‘militia attack’

Four displaced people were killed and nine others were seriously injured when “pro-government militiamen” allegedly opened fire on residents of Dreige camp in Nyala, capital of South Darfur on Saturday evening. As a result, thousands of displaced people staged a sit-in demonstration on Monday in front of the Unamid headquarters in Nyala. Multiple witnesses have told Radio Dabanga that a group of about 15 militiamen in Land Cruisers opened fire on the displaced people near Derabaya, 15 kilometres east of Nyala as they were returning to camp Dreige after collecting firewood. Kaltoum Abdullah Ibrahim and Jamal Issa Adam, Al Nour Ibrahim Ali Yusuf and Haroun Abdulrahman Abkar died immediately. The nine wounded were taken to Nyala hospital for treatment. They are Al Hadi Mohamed Suleiman, Gisma Musa Abdulla, Gisma Amdulrahman Adam, Jama Adam Mohamed, Abdul Majid Hussain Zakaria, Bakilir Adam Abkar, Hussein Ali Al Toum, Hassan Ali Abdulla, a sheikh of the camp told Radio Dabanga. During Monday’s sit-in, the protesters carried the bodies of the four dead with them after authorities refused to finalise autopsy procedures and issue death certificates for them. A spokesman for the displaced voiced their dissatisfaction, punctuated by cheers from the crowd, with the ‘systematic targeting of displaced people by government militias’. The bodies, were then buried in spite of the lack of documentation, the source said. In a separate incident, a displaced man from Nyala’s Kalma camp was seriously injured and his horse killed on Sunday. Spokesman for the Association of Displaced Persons and Refugees of Darfur, Hussein Abu Sharati, told Radio Dabanga that the man was heading back to the camp with a cartload of firewood when the attack occurred. File photo