Night raid by militia on neighbourhoods in Mukjar, Central Darfur

A group of 10 “pro-government militiamen” raided the districts of north and east Korofata near the city of Mukjar, Central Darfur, at 1am on Wednesday morning. Witnesses told Radio Dabanga that the armed raiders burgled 19 houses, as well as stealing money, mobile phones, two cows, two donkeys and 14 goats. The incident reportedly occurred about 300 metres from the local security office. “One of the ‘popular policemen’ from the office fired his Kalashnikov into the air, which caused the militiamen to withdraw from the districts,” one source said. A formal report was reportedly made to the police of the incident, but “no action has been taken yet”. The citizens demanded the locality’s commissioner, the director of police and the security committee of Mukjar locality to re-activate the police stations which have been withdrawn from the districts.As reported from Central Darfur by Radio Dabanga earlier this month, residents of Mukjar complained of “an increase in banditry” due to the withdrawal of smaller police stations to the headquarters after an officer was killed and arms and ammunition stolen in an armed raid on a small police station in the locality on 5 July.File photo by Albert González Farran/Unamid Related: Police withdrawal from districts of Nertiti, Central Darfur, ‘causes concern’ (24 July 2013)‘Banditry upsurge in Central Darfur’ following police station closures (10 July 2013)Officer killed in ‘militia arms raid’ on Central Darfur police station (5 July 2013)