Three Unamid staff abducted in South Darfur city

Militiamen kidnapped three Sudanese working for the peacekeeping mission Unamid in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, on Thursday evening.

The abduction took place near the Technical College in Nyala, when the Sudanese employees were on their way to the mission's headquarters in Sagra neighbourhood, northeast of the city.

Witnesses told Radio Dabanga that five gunmen, driving a Land Cruiser without plates, intercepted a vehicle with four staff from Unamid. The attackers seized three passengers at gunpoint and put them in their vehicle before driving off.

In remarks to the local press, the South Darfur state police chief Mohamed Hussein confirmed the accident. He said that the police has closed all entrances to the city in order to prevent the escape of the perpetrators and the kidnapped employees.

Unamid (the African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur) has so far not released a public statement about the abduction of its contractors. For UN staff, movement around the town without escort is mostly discouraged given the threat of abduction for ransom by militia groups.

There are thousands of unregistered vehicles in Darfur. This month North Darfur state ordered the confiscation of all unlicensed vehicles in its attempt to decrease the number of illegal vehicles – often used by outlaws and criminals.

Related:

Large control of stolen vehicles in South Darfur (14 June 2016)