Minister’s car and three others hijacked in North Darfur

Four vehicles were hijacked by “unidentified gunmen” in two separate incidents in North Darfur on Saturday; three on the road between Mellit and state capital, El Fasher, and a fourth within the market of Kabkabiya town. The Commissioner of Mellit locality, Mohamed Osman Ibrahim, told Radio Dabanga that the gunmen were operating from a number of armed vehicles. “Among the cars hijacked on the Mellit-El Fasher road is a one belonging to the Minister of Technology Development at the Darfur Transitional Authority, Osman Fadul Washe, who was on his way to an official engagement” the Commissioner said, confirming that the second vehicle belongs to the border guards, while the third belongs to a citizen named Zein El Abidine. Ibrahim said that the men then “moved to the western areas of the state. At the market in the city of Kabkabiya, an armed group reportedly hijacked a transport vehicle. They first forced the owner, Abdul Karim, to drive to the Khor Ramla area in Central Darfur. His vehicle was then lifted onto a waiting Land Cruiser.” Karim said that that he was beaten before the hijackers drove off and left him in the open. File photo by Albert González Farran/Unamid