Three men buried after police shot them dead in Zalingei UN protest

Three bodies were laid to rest yesterday in Zalingei after the events the day before at the University of Zalingei, when police shot dead three men. The shooting happened after the departure of the foreigners who were visiting the town as part of the effort to mediate the Darfur conflict.Students in Zalingei on Wednesday scuffled with NCP supporters around a building where the UN-African Union chief mediator was holding a consultation with civil society representatives. The protesters drove away the pro-NCP students and blocked the exit of the foreign mediators. The shooting seems to have happened after the foreigners had left.

The slain men are Abdullah Mohammedin Yusuf of the College of Education, and a man called Al Dagil who was a merchant in the Al Thura neighborhood, and Mohamed Wardi, a high school student. The latter two were shot dead by police while they were passing by the scene of the protest in Zalingei. A memorial service was held yesterday in Kanjumiya neighborhood for the student Abdullah Mohammedin, according to a Zalingei University student.

The number of people shot by the police is 12. A student was also stabbed by a member ‘Abu Tira’, the militia known also as the Central Reserve Police. This happened within the dormitory of female students at the University of Zalingei. Witnesses reported that there were some arrests of student activists, but did not know the exact numbers or names. Witnesses described the situation Zalingei yesterday as calm.