N. Darfur governor pledges justice for perpetrators of Tabara massacre

North Darfur Governor Osman Kibir announced the formation of a fact-finding committee to investigate the massacre at Tabara in which dozens died on 2 September. The governor affirmed in a meeting with citizens in Tawila yesterday that justice will reach all who participated in this crime, through legal procedures.Approximately 60 people died in violence in or around Tabara on 2 and 3 September. Many of them died when gunmen opened fire on shoppers at the market. At least one source earlier identified the attackers as ‘janjaweed’. The attack occurred at the same time as a government offensive in the same general region against the Sudan Liberation Army of Abdel Wahid Al Nur.

Kibir said that what happened at the market was the result of individual behavior and that the government is innocent. But he pledged that the government will undertake to pay for the treatment of all those injured in the incident. The governor further pledged to implement any recommendations that will be made by the fact-finding committee, particularly with regard to the perpetrators and arresting them to bring them to justice.

The governor also announced the formation of a committee to help those affected by the Tabara market incident, namely the 1200 families which fled to Tawila.