North Darfur Governor downplays assassination attempt

The Governor of North Darfur has denied being subjected to an assassination attempt in Kuma, the capital of North Darfur’s El Kuma locality, on Saturday. The delegation he was leading was fired upon during a clash between Sudanese regular forces at Kuma market after an attempt to hijack a vehicle, North Darfur Governor Osman Yusif Kibir said in a press statement on Monday. The chairman of the parliamentarian Security and Defence Committee, Malik Abdallah Hussein, however, stated that the group that tried to assassinate Kibir was small. “Three gunmen managed to penetrate into the locality’s facilities where the Governor had a meeting. They clashed with the guards and fled.” Mohamed Suleiman Rabih, the Commissioner of El Kuma locality confirmed in a press statement that the attack was carried out by an unidentified group while the Kibir was chairing a meeting at the locality’s premises on Saturday. “One of the Governor’s personal guards was killed.” File photo: Security forces at a bus station in Darfur Related:Governor in Sudan’s Darfur survives ambush: source (17 March 2014) North Darfur Governor survives assassination attempt (16 March 2014)