2 minors ‘raped by gunmen on camels’ in North Darfur

In North Darfur, two young girls were sexually assaulted by an armed group while travelling between the towns of Kadarik and Tabit. The assailants reportedly killed a resident who attempted to rescue the girls.

A resident of Tabit told Radio Dabanga that an “armed group on camels and motorcycles” intercepted the girls, aged 14 and 17, and proceeded to sexually assault them.

Sheikh Ahmed Adam, a Quran teacher in Tabit and a resident of Kadarik, was killed by the gunmen after he attempted to save the girls, the source added.

The incident was not reported to authorities given the “absence of legal and judicial institutions in the area”, which is under the control of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Since fierce battles broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF on April 15 last year, reports about gender-based violence, often committed by invading RSF paramilitaries, multiplied.

“We receive new reports night and day,” the head of the Combating Violence Against Women Unit of Sudan’s Ministry of Social Affairs said after seven weeks of war. “Most of the victims of sexual assaults are women and girls aged 12-17.”

Earlier this month, a group of 12 United Nations human rights experts called for immediate support for survivors of gender-based violence and an end to the targeting of women by all armed groups in Sudan.

Insecurity

In neighbouring Dar El Salam, listeners reported a deteriorating security situation in the locality and in other villages southwest of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur.

Several people indicated that gunmen continue to block roads between Shangil Tobaya, Tabit, and Zamzam camp for the displaced. “Gunmen hijacked two vehicles last Friday. Residents managed to recover one of them, although its contents were stolen”, a local told Radio Dabanga.

The militants are reportedly preventing some farmers from accessing their land, raising concerns about potential crop failure despite this year’s promising rainy season. A previous Radio Dabanga feature explored the longstanding frictions between camel herders and farmers in the area.

Last week, the Coordination of Camps for Displaced People in North Darfur reported that the area between Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, and Dar El Salam, North Darfur, is under blockade by the RSF, “with forces preventing the entry of essential supplies such as sugar, flour, onions, fuel, and other necessities”.

It added that “gates were established to block food supplies from entering the camps”, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis, calling on the RSF to “cease its violations against the displaced”.