Ten raped, three sheikhs killed in separate incidents in Darfur

Militiamen have killed three sheikhs and raped ten women, among them four minors, in separate events in Darfur on Thursday and Friday.Three herders near Tabit were injured by milita members on Thursday as well.

Sudanese Rapid Support Forces (RSF) killed the three sheikhs on Friday, following a rape incident in Bir Zinkiya, 20 km north-west of Dubo El Omda, East Jebel Marra region. A relative of one of the rape victims told Dabanga that six women had gone out early in the morning to fetch drinking water from the Bir Zinkiya well. Members of the RSF overpowered the women there, and took them close to their military post. The six women, including one 17-year-old girl, were raped from 7 am until the afternoon.

Since the military campaign against the armed movements in East Jebel Marra was launched this month, the RSF have taken control of many water sources, preventing residents from fetching water.

The relative explained that after the villagers heard about the missing women, three sheikhs went to the military post to request the release of the women. “As soon as the three sheikhs arrived, RSF members opened fire on them, executing them on the spot.” The deceased are Adam Haroun Musa (25 years), Idris Musa Younis (65), and Hamza Eisa Ali (71), the source said.

Late Friday night, the RSF militiamen let three of the women go, allegedly because they were carrying their babies with them. The other three, including the under-aged girl, are still held, according to the latest reports.

Four minors raped in North and West Darfur

In another incident on Friday, militant herders attacked and raped three minor girls, of 12, 14, and 17 years old. The girls were working on a watermelon farm in Kochonga, 15 km south of Tabit, North Darfur. The herders threatened them and raped them alternately, a relative of one of the girls reported.

Militiamen also raped a minor girl in Sirba locality, West Darfur, on Thursday. The victim, a student at the basic school in Abu Suruj camp, went out north of the camp to do her reading. Three pro-government militiamen attacked her at 4 pm, and took her to the adjacent valley at gunpoint. She was raped for several hours, a coordinator of the Sirba camps told Dabanga.

The wounded schoolgirl was transferred to a health center in Abu Surug. “She was bleeding, and in a state of shock […] She has not eaten anything until Friday,” the coordinator said.

Herders, firewood collector attacked

Government-backed militiamen seriously wounded three herders who were grazing their livestock west of Tabit village on Thursday. A relative of one of the victims told Dabanga that the gunmen opened fire on Hassan Ali Adam, Mohamed Omar, and Hussein Mohamed, in the area of Tukumari. In addition, the militiamen stole their livestock.

A source in Shangil Tobaya area reported that a man was wounded by militia members, also on Thursday. He ventured west of Shangil Tobaya to collect firewood, where the perpetrators beat him. The man, named Jido Adam, has been transferred to a hospital.