Village burned to ground in Tawila, North Darfur

One villager was killed, three were raped, and two were abducted in an attack on the village of Dali, south of Tabit in Tawila locality, North Darfur, on Monday evening. 800 houses burned to ashes. The Commissioner of Tawila ordered the newly displaced who sought refuge in Tabit to return to their villages.

Fleeing villagers told Radio Dabanga that a group of militiamen in vehicles and others on camels raided Dali at about 8 pm.

“They shot Hamdi Ahmed Suleiman dead, raped three women, and took Ismail Adam Ismail and Yousef Ahmed Adam with them when they left,” one of them said.

After the attackers plundered a number of houses, they torched them. About 800 houses burned to ashes, the sources said. They also stole all the livestock from the villagers.

‘No aid for those who do not return’

All the residents of the village arrived in Tabit this morning. The sources said that the Commissioner of Tawila locality, Adam Yagoub, members of the locality’s Security Committee, and the commander of the Tabit military garrison visited them and ordered them and the people who were displaced earlier to return to their villages.

“But we told them that we will only return after the perpetrators are arrested and held accountable for the violence, the stolen money, goods, and livestock have been retrieved, and the rule of law has been restored in the area,” a villager reported.

“The commissioner became angry and said that we will not receive any water, food, or relief items, if we do not return to our villages.”