Five North Darfur women held hostage for ‘stolen cattle’

Five women were taken hostage on Saturday by Abbala tribesmen in El Sareif Beni Hussein locality, North Darfur, after 48 cows went missing. On the same day, two displaced men were abducted by militiamen in Kass locality, South Darfur. Armed Abbala tribesmen kidnapped five women, three of them minors, in the area of El Marra in El Sareif Beni Hussein locality on Saturday. “The women were abducted when they were collecting straw in the area of El Marra, southeast of El Sareif town. The Abbala took them to the area of Um Tajouk, 17 km west of Saraf Umra town”, an eyewitness in El Sareif reported to Radio Dabanga. “The Abbala had lost 48 cows. They told us that they would only release the women if their cows were returned to them.” Tribal tensions Members of the North Darfur State parliament have demanded the state’s Minister of Interior, Lt Gen. Ismat Abdel Rahman Zein El Abdin, to take his responsibility and intervene in the conflict between the Beni Hussein and Abbala tribes. On 27 June Radio Dabanga reported that ten Beni Hussein tribesmen were killed by Abbala the day before. According to the latest weekly bulletin of the UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Sudan, another 29 people were injured. The fighting reportedly erupted at Jiheir village, 17 km west of El Sareif town, after an attempted cattle theft. Since April 2014, tensions in the area of El Sareif increased. Militant herdsmen have blocked the main supply roads from Saraf Umra to El Sareif, and from Kabkabiya to El Sareif. Since the beginning of June, El Sareif Beni Hussein locality has seen frequent cattle raiding incidents, OCHA explained. These incidents have resulted in localised clashes among livestock owners from both sides. The warring tribes in the area do not appear to be respecting a recently signed peace agreement. In 2013, fighting in El Sareif Beni Hussein, primarily over the control of the Jebel ‘Amer gold mines, resulted in dozens of civilian casualties, and up to 100,000 newly displaced. Following tensions turned into renewed clashes, with Abbala militants besieging El Sareif town, and disrupting the flow of supplies. The humanitarian situation in the locality has become extremely difficult. South Darfur “Six government-backed Janjaweed on camels and horses on Saturday seized Haroun Mousa and Mohamed Yagoub El Tom, when they were tending their farmlands in the area of Amar, 6 km west of Kass town”, a farmer told Radio Dabanga from Amar. “They took them to an unknown destination.” File photo: People gathering near El Sareif town following Abbala attacks on 26 June (Radio Dabanga correspondent) Related:Prices of consumer goods soar in El Sareif, North Darfur (29 June 2014) Abbala kill ten Beni Hussein tribesmen in North Darfur (27 June 2014) Tribal tension rising in North Darfur, relative calm in Central Darfur (24 June 2014)Hotelier kidnapped in South Darfur capital (23 June 2014)Abbala militias abduct North Darfur travelers (30 May 2014) ‘Situation in El Sareif Beni Hussein deteriorating’: North Darfur youth (8 May 2014) Abbala herders release livestock by force on North Darfur farmlands; thousands displaced (23 April 2014)