Women killed, injured in air raids on Darfur’s East Jebel Marra

Three women have been killed and another three injured in reported aerial bombardments of Bir Abu Yassin, East Jebel Marra on Sunday and Monday. The raids also killed 37 cows and seven camels, and destroyed essential water installations, sources said. Witnesses told Radio Dabanga that at 6:00pm on Sunday, a “Sudanese Air Force Antonov” made passes over the Rovata area, 35 kilometres west of Vananga, from various directions and dropped several bombs in a raid that was ‘very violent’. An even heavier raid reportedly followed at 11:15am on Monday, which destroyed three wells and a water pump installation. Maryam Ismail Abakar (75), Yasmine Yahiya Yusuf (17), and Dar Naim Haroun Saleh (22) died in the first raid, witnesses said. Later, when bombs were dropped on the Bir Abu Yassin well, a father and his two sons Yahiya Yaqoub Adam, Adam Yahiya Yaqoub, and Suleiman Yahyia Yaqoub were injured, sources added. The blasts also destroyed a water pump head and its generator. A spokesman for the civilians said that 27 women from West and East Jebel Marra have already died from air raids this year. He appealed to the UN via Radio Dabanga to increase international pressure on the Khartoum regime to stop the air strikes on civilians and the destruction of water sources.“Pressure should also be applied for all of the UN Security Council resolutions to be implemented,” the sheikh said. File photo