Hijacks, robberies in Darfur

A station wagon belonging to Kabkabiya locality, North Darfur, was hijacked on Sunday. The day before, the passengers of two commercial vehicles were robbed north of El Fasher, and two lorries were hijacked in Central Darfur. On Saturday too, army forces retrieved two lorries hijacked in South Darfur.

A listener told Dabanga from Kabkabiya that the station wagon was parked near the market, when four gunmen told the driver to disembark at gunpoint. “They then fled with the vehicle to an unknown destination.”

‘Hail of bullets’

The hijack coincided with a entering of large groups of militiamen of the market, which led to its closure.

About 10 km north of the Halouf gate of El Fasher, capital of North Darfur, a group of militiamen intercepted the two passenger lorries “with a hail of bullets”, ”one of the victims reported to Dabanga.

”They ordered us to disembark and lie on the ground, after which they robbed us of all our personal belongings and luggage.”

He added that the passengers filed a complaint at the police in El Fasher, stressing that “armed robbers are wreaking havoc in the area since a long time”.

Central Darfur

A Land Cruiser lorry, en route from Foro Baranga to Nyala with sesame and hibiscus, was hijacked in Bindisi locality on Saturday evening.  

“At about 10 km east of Bindisi, the lorry was intercepted by five gunmen,” an eyewitness told Dabanga. “They told the driver at gunpoint to follow them towards Saraf Umra.”

Some hours before, another lorry was ambushed in the area. “The robbers stole the entire load. Yet, a rescue team formed by the relatives of the victims, managed to retrieve the goods,” he said.

In protest to the attacks, drivers and owners of lorries transporting goods from Nyala to Foro Baranga decided to strike on Sunday.

“The population of Bindisi, and neighbouring Mukjar locality, demanded from the Central Darfur state government to intervene immediately, curb the insecurity, and arrange convoys to protect the traffic on the Nyala-Foro Baranga route,” the source said.

‘Unharmed’

In South Darfur’s Rahad El Berdi locality, army forces recovered two lorries, loaded with food stuffs and carrying eight people, that were hijacked by a group of armed robbers last week.

The eight abductees were unharmed, Hamad Hussein, Commissioner of the locality, said in a press statement on Sunday.