VIOLENCE IN DARFUR, FEBRUARY – MAY 2020 | A compendium of reports from Radio Dabanga
• North Darfur: 10,000 families newly displaced this week | Radio Dabanga, February 20, 2020 | EL TINA / KABKABIYA
Conflict in El Tina locality on the border with Chad, as well as friction between farmers and herders in Kabkabiya locality, have displaced more than 10,000 families in North Darfur this week, according to Sudan’s Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC).
Humanitarian Aid Coordinator Ibrahim Ahmed Hamid told the official Sudan News Agency (SUNA) that a conflict had occurred in the Chadian El Tina region during the past days, pushing 3,185 families into the Sudanese El Tina. These include Chadian families.
A further 6,847 families have moved to Sortony camp after frictions between farmers and herders in the Kabkabiya locality, Hamid says.
Yesterday, the acting governor of North Darfur, Maj Gen Malik El Tayeb Khojali, inspected the conditions of Sudanese refugees returning from the country of Chad to the locality on the border between Sudan and Chad. As reported by Radio Dabanga on February 9, people newly displaced during the recent violence in El Geneina in West Darfur who have been sheltering in government institutions have reiterated their complaints about the poor humanitarian conditions and the lack of water and food. The UN Refugee agency (UNHCR) has confirmed the transfer of more than 300 newly displaced people to a refugee camp in Chad.
In a statement, the UNHCR confirmed that the recent violence in El Geneina caused more than 11,000 people to flee as refugees into neighbouring Chad since last month. 4,000 of them fled during last week alone and it is estimated that the clashes have displaced some 46,000 internally. The statement includes these newly displaced people in need of urgent help. “However, the rate of refugee arrivals risks outpacing our capacity,” the statement said.
• Woman killed, baby injured in attack against returnees in East Darfur | Radio Dabanga, March 23, 2020 |YASSIN
A group of herders launched an attack against returned displaced in Esheraya village in East Darfur on Saturday evening. A woman was killed, her 6-month-old baby was wounded, and the village was torched. The woman killed was Aisha Adam, Ibrahim Osman told Radio Dabanga from Esheraya. The assault led to the displacement of people to neighbouring Keleikel Mojo, Yasin, and Arousa in Yasin locality.
The incident occurred while the returnees were cleaning their farm lands, preparing for the agricultural season, Osman explained. The nomadic herders who had settled in those areas objected to this, which led to a fight with sticks. In the evening the nomads returned, riding horses and camels, and driving two vehicles, and attacked the village. The attack on Esheraya not only resulted in the death of Aisha Adam and the wounding of her baby. Part of the village was burned down, including four shops, five workshops, four oil factories, and five flour mills. The area’s only engine for pumping up water has been disabled.
• Young Darfur woman gang-raped and shot | Radio Dabanga, March 11, 2020 | TURR / NYALA
A group of gunmen gang-raped and shot a 17-year-old displaced woman in Central Darfur on Monday. In the capital of South Darfur, a policeman was killed by gunmen. Speaking to Radio Dabanga, Adam Hawkar reported that five armed men on horses and two on motorcycles gang-raped and shot a 17-year-old displaced woman in the area of Kalamakeri, east of Turr in Central Darfur, on Monday. She was badly wounded and transferred to Nyala Teaching Hospital.
People living in Turr and Nierteti complain about the escalation of attacks by militiamen affiliated to the former regime, since the beginning of March. “Militiamen in these areas frequently attack residents and displaced living in the camps who go out to collect firewood and straw,” Hawkar said.
He appealed to the governor of Central Darfur and the Forces of Freedom and Change in the state “to take urgent action to restore security and put an end to the militia attacks on the people of rural Turr and Nierteti.”
Nyala
In Nyala, capital of South Darfur, a policeman was killed by gunmen on Monday evening. The director of the South Darfur prisons, Brig Salaheldin Abdallah, reported that a corporal of the prison police was driving a rickshaw on Monday evening to supplement his remuneration. Two men asked him to drive them to El Sad El Aali district in the city centre. When they entered a side road in the district, the men tried to take his rickshaw at gunpoint. When he resisted, one of them shot him, and the other stabbed him with a knife. They then took the rickshaw and fled.
• Rape, gender violence still rife in Darfur | Radio Dabanga, May 3, 2020 | SHANGIL TOBAYA / NIERTETI
On Thursday, unidentified gunmen raped a 12-year-old girl in Shangil Tobaya in North Darfur. In Nierteti in Central Darfur, militiamen abducted a 16-year-old. In a statement on Friday, community leader and member of Darfur’s General Coordination of Refugees and Displaced People Adam Rujal reported that the girl was raped outside a camp for displaced people. Unidentified gunmen attacked three young women as they collected firewood in Um Dereisaya area west of the camp for displaced people they are living in. The attackers managed to capture one of the girls and allegedly repeatedly raped her.
The victim was taken to the hospital of Shangil Tobaya. “We reported the incident to the police,” he said.
In Nierteti in Central Darfur, militiamen took 16-year-old Tamadur Saleh from Nierteti camp while she was looking after her goats outside the town. A community leader Adam Okar told Radio Dabanga that three gunmen on horses attacked the victim about 2 km north of Nierteti. “They stole the goats and took the girl,” Okar explained. He also confirmed that the incident was reported to the police. A local rescue team went after the militiamen.
• Displaced women in Darfur badly beaten by militiamen | Radio Dabanga, April 13, 2020 | SIRBA / KABKABIYA
Four displaced women were beaten by gunmen in the area of Bir Seleiba, Sirba locality, West Darfur when they were collecting firewood. Two of them were severely injured. A community leader in Sirba camp for displaced people told Radio Dabanga that the perpetrators are believed to be government militiamen. He said that the two severely injured women, Khadija Khalid and Halima Mohamed, were transferred to El Geneina Hospital. The two other women were treated at the Bir Seleiba Health Centre. He said that the incident was reported to the Sirba locality police.
• Darfur violence: Seven dead, young woman raped | Radio Dabanga, April 24, 2020 | KASS / SARAF OMRA / TURR
Violent incidents in Darfur led to the death of seven people in the past two days. On Monday, a 17-year old woman was raped. In an attack on a North Darfur village, a number of houses were torched.
On Thursday, six people were killed and eight others were wounded in a tribal fight that erupted in the area of Sengeta, 20 km south of Kass in South Darfur. Witnesses told Radio Dabanga that “a simple social problem” developed into serious fighting between the two parties. A joint military and police force from Kass intervened and separated the adversaries. The dead and wounded were transferred to the hospital of Kass.
Village attacked
In Saraf Omra locality in North Darfur, a young man was stabbed to death with a knife during a quarrel on Wednesday afternoon. In response the family of the deceased attacked Keng Ban Jadeed, the village of the killer, Mohamed Ishag reported from the area. A number of houses and stores containing millet and groundnut crops burned to ashes. Several heads of livestock were lost as well. Ten families took refuge in neighbouring villages. Others fled to nearby valleys, Ishag said.
The authorities deployed a number of forces in the area to contain the situation. People in the neighbourhood started a nafeer (crowdfunding) for the affected people. The source appealed to aid organisations to provide support to the victims.
Army officer
On Monday, a senior army officer raped a 17-year-old woman near the town of Turr in South Darfur. The family of the victim filed a complaint to the police of Turr against the man, a lieutenant stationed at the military garrison of Turr, and then took their relative to the hospital of Nierteti.
• Girl raped by armed men in Darfur camp | Radio Dabanga, February 26, 2020 | DARFUR
Three armed men seized a minor girl in front of her brother and raped her in one of the Garsila camps for displaced people in Wadi Salih locality in Central Darfur on Monday evening. Displaced people were prevented to reclaim their lands in North Darfur. Central Darfur camps coordinator El Shafee Abdallah told Radio Dabanga that the girl was found the following morning, lying on the main road in poor conditions.
The victim was transferred to Garsila Hospital. Medical examination confirmed that she was raped and severely beaten, according to the report of the Garsila police.
North Darfur
In North Darfur, displaced people were prevented from reclaiming their farms in the area of Deleiba, 20 kilometers northwest of Kutum. The Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) of Kutum locality demanded that the authorities provide security and enable farmers to access their lands for cultivation. Yahya El Khams, SPA spokesperson in Kutum locality, said to Radio Dabanga that he has received more complaints from resistance committees and residents in Deleiba.
Men in vehicles and a motorcycles regularly prevent displaced people from reclaiming their agricultural lands, which they had abandoned during the war that started in 2003. They claim the lands are not for farming, but for grazing.
He called on the locality and state authorities to enable the returnees to reclaim and cultivate their lands.
• Two girls raped in Darfur | Radio Dabanga, February 9, 2020 | SIRBA / KASS
Militiamen raped two girls in separate incidents in West and South Darfur last week. Eight people died and three others sustained injuries in a traffic accident on the highway between Nyala and Kass in South Darfur.
On Wednesday, a herder attacked and raped a 13-year-old girl at Reigel Mour area in Sirba locality while she was looking after her family’s goats. A relative of the girl told Radio Dabanga the victim El Geneina hospital with severe bleeding. He also confirmed that they reported the incident to Abu Surouj police station. On Friday, four gunmen raped a primary school pupil from Kass camp for the displaced in South Darfur.
The head Sheikh of Kass camp, Abdelrahman Bakhour, told Radio Dabanga that four gunmen riding camels attacked and gang-raped the victim while she was collecting firewood in the East part of the camp with three of her brothers. The Sheikh told Radio Dabanga that first they bound and beat her three brothers before they took the girl to the bush and repeatedly raped her.
The Sheikh confirmed that they took the victim to the Kass Educational Hospital for treatment and reported the incident to the Kass police station. The Sheikh urged the authority to arrest the rapists and bring them to justice and take decisive measures to disarm the militiamen.
• Six Darfur women raped for two days | Radio Dabanga, February 3, 2020 | TARADONA
Gunmen raped six women for two days in the Taradona area south of Saraf Omra in North Darfur. A relative of the victims told Radio Dabanga that the gunmen attacked the six women and their two children, when they were collecting firewood on Friday. They locked them up at gunpoint and repeatedly raped all six women on Friday and Saturday. He said that they filed a report at the Saraf Omra police. He added that local security forces tried to pursue the perpetrators near the crime scene, but they did not manage to arrest any of them.
• Young girl raped by militiaman in Central Darfur | Radio Dabanga, February 25, 2020 | NIERTETI
A member of the paramilitary Border Guards raped an 8-year-old girl near Nierteti in Central Darfur on Thursday. The militiaman seized and raped the child when she was grazing cows in the area of Khor Ramla, 7 km west of Nierteti, Adam Mohamed Yousef told Radio Dabanga. A local search posse managed to capture the offender, and handed him to the Nierteti Police Department. The victim was transferred to Nierteti Hospital.
• One dead, five wounded in Central Darfur village raid | Radio Dabanga, April 22 – 2020 ZALINGEI
One villager was shot dead and at least five others were wounded in an attack by gunmen on the village of Tamur Jamil, 18 km northeast of Zalingei in Central Darfur yesterday.
Villager Ismail Yagoub told Radio Dabanga that the body of a herder was found in a water well at one of the farms of the village that same day. An armed group of herders on camels and motorcycles subsequently raided the village while firing heavily. This caused the death of villager Abakar Mori.
Witness Yagoub said that the gunmen beat everyone in the village, took over the police station, and burned part of the village market and a number of houses.
The gunmen rounded up all the men of the village, including members of the civil administration. Some were held in the police station, others in the mosque. The witness said that he and several others managed to escape in a vehicle that brought them to Zalingei.
• 12 dead, many wounded in Darfur violence | Radio Dabanga, March 10, 2020 | BELEIL / GARSILA
At least 12 people died, and an unspecified number of people were wounded, in an attack by herders on Dewana village in Beleil locality in South Darfur on Monday. Troops have been sent to the area to contain the situation. On Sunday, bandits intercepted three lorries in Central Darfur and severely injured one of the drivers.
Local community leader Omda Nureldin Ishag told Radio Dabanga that the violence began with a fight between a farmer and a herder on Sunday. The farmer stabbed the herder to death and then handed himself over to the local police in Beleil. “After that, the herders gathered and opened fire on Dewana village, killing at least 12 people. Several homes burned to the ground,” he reported.
Omda Ishag said that the dead were buried in Nyala in the presence of the governor of South Darfur. “The attackers targeted not only those in the village but also some people in the surrounding farms,” he added.
The omda confirmed that three wounded people were transferred to Nyala hospital, while there are still many listed as missing.
“Situation contained”
In an interview with Radio Dabanga on Monday, the governor of South Darfur, Maj Gen Hashim Mahmoud confirmed Omda Ishag’s report of the incident in the village of Dewana. “Right after the attack, we decided to send security forces to the village where the violence occurred. The security forces have contained the situation,” he said.
The governor confirmed that 12 people from various tribes in the village were killed, eight bodies were buried in Nyala and four in Dewana village, while three wounded people were transferred to Nyala hospital for further treatment….
Hussein Abusharati, one of the leaders of the displaced people in Darfur, described what happened as “a manifestation of the deterioration of the security situation in Darfur.” He urged the authorities to arrest those responsible as soon as possible and bring them to justice. Abusharati also called on the international community to put more pressure on the transitional government to put an end to the long suffering of the people in Darfur.
Highway robbery
On Sunday, bandits intercepted three lorries between Garsila and Bindisi in Central Darfur. One of the drivers was shot and severely wounded. A passenger told Radio Dabanga that a group of bandits intercepted three trucks on Sunday, while on their way from Garsila to Bindisi. They opened intensive fire on one of the trucks, and severely injured the driver, Adam Adam.
• Violence in Central Darfur: Five people killed, two injured, police station torched | Radio Dabanga, March 6, 2020 | ZALINGEI / TURR
The governor of Central Darfur announced the arrest of seven people accused of robbing the arms store and torching the police station of Azum locality last week. He said that five people were killed in clashes in Kouri. Yet he denied attacks on displaced people in the area of Turr.
Herders, displaced attacked
The governor further reported the killing of five people in a clash between herders and a group of armed robbers at in the area of Kouri, north of Nierteti, on Tuesday. A military force was sent from Zalingei to contain the situation. The governor denied any accidents in the area of Turr.
Yesterday, a displaced man in Turr reported to Radio Dabanga that two secondary school students were shot by armed men near Turr on Wednesday. “A group of gunmen riding on horses, raided a number of homes of displaced people in Turr on Wednesday evening and stole five donkeys,” he said. “Each time they entered a house, they fired around them. Two secondary school students sustained injuries. One of them had to be taken to Nyala for treatment, while the other was transferred to the Health Insurance Centre of Nierteti.”
• South Darfur violence claims another victim | Radio Dabanga, March 11, 2020 | BELEIL / UM GUNJA
The death toll of the violence in Beleil locality in South Darfur rose to 14. A farmer killed a herder during a fight on Sunday, after which herders attacked Dewana village and the surrounding area on Monday, killing 12 people. Yesterday, a resident of Um Gunja village was reported killed as well….
Omda Noureldin Ishag reported to Radio Dabanga that the residents of the area said to the governor that they are trapped within their villages. They told the governor that the attacks of the herders on the villages are linked to their unwillingness to vacate the lands surrounding the villages.
“A couple of years ago, Arab herders settled on agricultural land of people who fled the war and are now living in camps for the displaced,” the omda explained. “Since 2017, the residents in the area have been subjected to such attacks,” he added, pointing to the death of more than 31 people.
• Two students brutally butchered by North Darfur abductors | Radio Dabanga, February 2, 2020 | SARAF OMRA
Residents of Saraf Omra in North Darfur have reacted with horror and anger after the bodies of two young students were found stabbed to death in the open near the town on Friday morning. Shamseldin Osman (13) and Yahya Mahmoud (16), were reportedly abducted on Tuesday evening while they were driving the family’s rickshaw back from the weekly market in Saraf Omra.
A primary school teacher, Mohamed Mukhtar, told Radio Dabanga that a local rescue team accompanied by the Sudanese army found the bodies of the two students, at Gadel Habob, north of Saraf Omra. The teacher confirmed that the two students had been stabbed to death and their bodies dumped in the open.
• North Darfur gunmen wreak havoc in Kutum | Radio Dabanga, March 13, 2020 | KUTUM / DOBO EL OMDA
Residents of Kutum in North Darfur are complaining about an increase of thefts and robberies. On Thursday, two women were wounded in an armed robbery in Tawila locality.
“Kutum has been witnessing an upsurge in attacks by militiamen lately,” Yahya El Khoms, Member of the Forces for Freedom and Change told Radio Dabanga.
“They come on camels, motorcycles, and sometimes in vehicles, and assault and rob the people in the locality,” he said. “The most recent attacks took place this morning, when three gunmen intercepted herder Osman Mohamed, 20 kilometres north-east of Kutum, and stole 20 goats. Luckily a search posse managed to recover the animals.”
The activist called on the locality and state authorities to act to restore the Rule of Law and disarm militiamen and other gunmen in the region.
In Tawila locality, North Darfur, two women were wounded during an armed robbery on Thursday. A villager told Radio Dabanga that four armed men riding on camels attacked people watering their livestock at a well in the area of Dobo El Omda. “They shot in the air. Saadiya Yagoub was hit by a bullet in the hand. The hand of Gisma Mohamed was broken by a blow with a rifle butt,” he said. “The gunmen then left, taking 85 goats and sheep with them.”
The incident was reported to the army garrison of Katur.
• Two displaced people ‘missing’ after North Darfur attack | Radio Dabanga, March 22, 2020 | MERSHING
Two people are missing following an attack by gunmen of a group of firewood collectors north of Mershing in South Darfur. Four others managed to escape. One of those who escaped told Radio Dabanga that a local rescue team and a joint force of Rapid Support Forces, as well as the police, went to the crime scene, but only found two dead donkeys. The location of the two missing people remains unknown, he said.
• Three wounded in Darfur violence, fires destroy homes | Radio Dabanga, April 19, 2020 | SHANGIL TOBAYA / DAR EL SALAM / WEST BARA
On Thursday, an unidentified group of gunmen shot a man and wounded two other residents in Shangil Tobaya area in North Darfur. Dozens of homes have been destroyed by fires.
Witnesses told Radio Dabanga gunmen opened intensive fire on a group of people who were leaving a local sports club in Shangil Tobaya on Thursday night. As a result, they instantly killed El Fadil Ibrahim and injured Abdelmajid Yousef and Mubarak Yahya.
Witnesses confirmed that the two wounded people were transferred to El Fasher Hospital. “The motive and the identity of the attackers remain unknown,” the witnesses said.
On Friday, a fire broke out and destroyed at least 22 houses and a great quantity of crops and food grains in Um Ajaja Hillet Hamid in Dar El Salam locality in North Darfur. In a separate incident in Um Kereidem IN West Bara locality in North Kordofan, a massive fire destroyed the more than 70 houses and other property. Omda Ibrahim Mahdi told Radio Dabanga that the fire caused severe damage to the property of the people. “As a result, a great number of people became homeless, and they have nothing to get by,” he explained. Omda Mahdi appealed to the state government and humanitarian organisations to intervene and help the affected people.
In Um Kereidem in North Kordofan, a fire destroyed the property of 70 families, the losses exceeding SDG 10 million. The villagers appealed to the authorities and the benevolent organisations for help.
• North Darfur: Three dead in Jebel Marra livestock raids | Radio Dabanga, May 17, 2020 | KATUR
Militiamen attacked and killed three men in Katur in eastern Jebel Marra in North Darfur on Thursday, while the next day armed men terrorised people and stole dozens of livestock in the same area. Witnesses told Radio Dabanga that seven unidentified gunmen shot and killed Ibrahim Sharif, Yahya, and Adam Hamid in Katur. They then stole 45 sheep and two donkeys and fled toward the area of El Malam. Witnesses also confirmed that on Friday, the militiamen opened intensive fire on a water source in Katur and then plundered dozens of livestock and fled the area.
• Darfur: Security and safety remain primary concern | Radio Dabanga, March 3, 2020 | KUTUM / SARAF OMRA / SHANGIL TOBAYA
On Sunday, herders shot six displaced women and a child while they were collecting straw near Kutum. In a separate incident, a man was shot in Saraf Omra. Yahya El Khoms, a leading member of the Forces for Freedom and Change, told Radio Dabanga that the incident occurred when a group of 13 women and children from the camp for displaced in Jebel district of Kutum went out to collect straw near the town on Sunday. He explained that several armed herders beat them with batons and whips. They then shot at them. Six women and a child were injured. “Three of them were severely wounded and had to be transferred to El Fasher Hospital. The other wounded people were hospitalised at Kutum Hospital,” he said.
Motorcycle
On Sunday, unidentified gunmen shot Ali Abakar dead in Saraf Omra. Mohamed Khatir, a leading member of the Forces for Freedom and Change in the locality, told Radio Dabanga that gunmen shot two young men while they were riding a motorcycle on their way from Saraf Omra to Dembero Hillet Ali Yahya. “They killed one of them, Ali Abakar, and took the motorcycle,” he said. A local search posse found the motorcycle in a house in Saraf Omra.
The activist said that the town recently witnessed a spread of violence such as rape, murder and robbery. He pointed to the re-emergence of wandering gunmen in civilian clothes at the Saraf Omra market, a return of the kadamol (a scarf covering the face), and unlicensed motorcycles.
Fire
In Shangil Tobaya camp for displaced people in North Darfur an extensive fire destroyed 16 houses entirely and ten other houses partially. Ten goats and five donkeys were killed, a camp sheikh told Dabanga Radio. The fire left dozens of families without shelter, he said. He appealed to the state authorities and humanitarian organisations to expedite the provision of aid to the affected people.
• Fire leaves one dead in Central Darfur, militiamen beat up factory workers | Radio Dabanga, May 15, 2020 | NIERTETI
On Thursday, a man died and five others were injured in a fire that broke out in Nierteti in Central Darfur. Gunmen believed to be members of the Border Guards militia assaulted displaced people working in charcoal factory. Speaking to Radio Dabanga, Adam Okar reported that a fire broke out at the market of Nierteti, which led to the burning of seven stalls selling fuel.
“Adam Zein died. Sabri Marouf, Seifeldin Abakar, Mohamed Abdelnasir, Ali Fadul, and Haroun Adam, who sustained burns, were transferred to Nierteti Hospital.” He further reported that the area of Boronro, south of Nierteti, is prone to assaults by militiamen believed to be members of the Border Guards.
On Thursday, they stormed a charcoal factory, where a group of displaced people were working. They beat the workers with rifle butts and whips. The incident was reported to the police of Nierteti. Ishag Imam (70), Eisa Hussein (65), Babiker Saeed (36), Abdallah Mousa (28), and Abdelrazig Ishag (21) were injured and taken to the Nierteti Hospital.
• Driver killed in Central Darfur highway robbery | Radio Dabanga, May 13, 2020 | NIERTETI
Three gunmen blocked a road near Nierteti in Central Darfur on Monday and opened fire at two cars. El Tijani Eisa was shot dead. The other driver, Muez Meneis, survived the armed robbery. The gunmen took both cars. At least three displaced people were injured and their properties were stolen by militiamen at the El Shamaliya camp for the displaced in Nierteti on Monday. Displaced people told Radio Dabanga that the accident occurred after sunset.
They said that the gunmen came to the camp on horses and motorcycles while firing in the air. Abakar Abdeljabbar Adam, Bakri Ezzeldin and Muhajir Daoud were injured when the gunmen beat them with whips and rifle butts.
The gunmen stole 15 mobile phones, four bicycles and two donkeys.
• Armed robberies and kidnapping in Darfur | Radio Dabanga, May 11, 2020 | KERNI / KEREINIK / NIERTETI / KADUGLI
Gunmen on horses opened fire during an armed robbery on the road between Kerni and Nierteti in Jebel Marra, Central Darfur, on Saturday. Abdelmumin Mousa was killed instantly. Adam Okar told Radio Dabanga that the gunmen took SDG 5,700 ($104) from the victim’s body. A group of gunmen stole SDG 27,500 ($500) from passengers of a commercial vehicle that was on its way from Nierteti to Omdurman on Saturday. The vehicle driver, his assistant, and a passenger were injured.
Gunmen kidnapped three farmers, including a woman, from their farms in Bari Valley in Kereinik in West Darfur yesterday morning. The victims are Maysoon Fadul, Khamees Mousa, and Ramadan Ismail, who is a resident of Sese camp for displaced. He came to Bari Valley to farm the land. According to sources in Kereinik the kidnapping is a retaliation as the police captured alleged cattle rustlers, who are accused of stealing cows in the area.
Four unknown gunmen robbed mobile phones from patients of the Doctor Abeer Health Centre in El Geneina, capital of West Darfur, on Saturday. According to witnesses who spoke to Radio Dabanga the attackers wounded several patients and their companions before fleeing. They also grabbed a vehicle on the streets at gunpoint.
• Two injured as armed robbers plunder Darfur convoy | Radio Dabanga, May 5, 2020 | GURNI
Two people were injured on Sunday when armed robbers attacked two commercial vehicles near Gurni on the road between Golo and the South Darfur capital of Nyala.
Community leader, Adam Okar, told Radio Dabanga that unidentified gunmen opened intensive fire on two commercial vehicles. Both drivers, Ammar Abdallah and Ridwan Abdelkarim, were wounded.
Okar says the gunmen then robbed the passengers of SDG 150 million* in cash all of their mobile phones. The security situation in Darfur remains unstable with armed robberies and gender-based violence commonplace. Last month, a similar highway robbery was reported in the same area near Gurni, in which a man was wounded.
A previously reported by Radio Dabanga this week, unidentified gunmen raped a 12-year-old girl in Shangil Tobaya in North Darfur on Thursday. In Nierteti in Central Darfur, militiamen abducted a 16-year-old.
• Two displaced abducted, passengers robbed in Central Darfur | Radio Dabanga, April 10, 2020 | TURR / NIERTETI
Unknown gunmen briefly kidnapped two displaced men in Turr in Central Darfur on Thursday. A woman was wounded during the following protest demonstration. On Wednesday, a man was injured in an attack on a passenger vehicle near Nierteti. Speaking to Radio Dabanga, Adam Okar reported that a group of armed men riding on motorcycles intercepted El Faki Adam and Abdallah Ismail in the area east of Turr. “The displaced men were on their way from Jebel Marra to their camp in Turr,” Okar said. “An army force, together with a local search team, traced the bandits. They managed to free Adam and Ismail, and arrest the kidnappers.”
After the kidnap, people in Turr took to the streets, in protest against the repeated attacks by militants in the area.
After the protesters blocked the Turr-Nyala road with stones and burning tires, they marched to the Turr army garrison. “The protesters demanded the perpetrators to be handed to them,” the source said. “They threw stones to the garrison commander when he wanted to address them, which prompted the army to open fire on the crowd.” Azza Hasan was wounded. She was transferred to Nierteti Hospital. The incident was reported to the Unified Police of Nierteti.
Armed robbery
On Wednesday, Ahmed Ibrahim was injured in an attack on a passenger’s vehicle in the vicinity of Nierteti. Adam Okar told Radio Dabanga that a group of seven gunmen stopped a commercial vehicle at gunpoint in the area of Goz Matta. The vehicle was on its way from Kass to Kabkabiya. “After the attackers severely beat the driver and his assistant, they seized telephones, blankets, sacks of sugar, other baggage items, and fled,” he reported.
• One wounded in Darfur armed robbery | Radio Dabanga, April 22, 2020 | GURNI
A man was shot and wounded during an armed robbery in Central Darfur yesterday morning.
Adam Haker told Radio Dabanga that gunmen tried to stop a commercial vehicle that was on its way from Nyala to Kala village in Gurni, north of Nierteti. When the driver did not stop, the attackers shot at the vehicle, and seriously wounded passenger Ahmed Khater.
• Student killed in Darfur armed robbery | Radio Dabanga, April 8 – 2020 JELDO
Student Abdelmannan Abakar of the University of Nyala was shot dead by gunmen in an armed robbery on a commercial vehicle near Jeldo in Central Darfur on Monday. Adam Okro told Radio Dabanga that gunmen opened fire on the vehicle while it was on its way from Nyala to Jeldo. He said that the gunmen wore military uniforms. They tried to stop the vehicle, but the driver refused to stop, so they opened fire and killed Abakar instantly.
Gunmen driving three Land Cruisers chased away displaced from camps near Nierteti in Central Darfur on Monday, who had returned to their farms in the Kori area northwest of Nierteti. El Shafee Abdallah said that the armed men burned a rickshaw belonging to the displaced and beat them, slightly injuring nine of them.
• Three dead, several wounded in Darfur violence, robbery | Radio Dabanga, March 5, 2020 | NIERTETI / KENDEBE
Three people were killed and several others were wounded in separate incidents in Nierteti locality in Central Darfur and Kendebe in West Darfur during the past two days. Adam Hokar told Dabanga Radio that a group of gunmen attacked the Kouri nomad settlement north of Nierteti on Tuesday evening. “Obeid Ibrahim and Farah Jubara were killed immediately, Mohamed Eisa was injured, while the others responded to the attackers, killing two of them, and wounding others.” Hokar said that he was not aware of the causes or motives for the attack.
“The situation is very tense in the area as a result of the gathering of militants from both sides,” he said. “The authorities sent a security force from the state capital Zalingei to contain the situation.”
On Wednesday, armed men on horses opened fire against a group of displaced people who were making bricks and wounded four of them, including two brothers Babikir and Ali Ishag who were transferred to a hospital in critical condition.
Omar Gasim told Radio Dabanga that four gunmen on camels attacked a vehicle that was on its way from Kendebe to Bir Sileiba in West Darfur on Tuesday. “Ibrahim Shogar was killed outright, and another was wounded. The robbers made off with the money and goods in the vehicle.” In response, people went out in a demonstration and gathered in front of the locality building demanding the arrest of the perpetrators and the closure of the gold mine in the locality which has become a security threat in the area.
• Two killed in Central Darfur | Radio Dabanga, February 21, 2020 | MUKJAR
Two people were shot dead by unknown persons in the area of Besouti, south of Mukjar in Central Darfur, on Wednesday. Residents in Mukjar told Radio Dabanga that the two dead were 28-year-old Adam Ibrahim and 25-year-old Ahmed Hussein. They said that the killing was reported to the police of Mukjar, that started an investigation after the two bodies were buried at the cemetery near Mukjar Airport on Thursday.
• North Darfur emergency force must prevent attacks during lockdown | Radio Dabanga, April 17, 2020 | EL FASHER / EL GENEINA / GARSILA
In North Darfur, a joint emergency force has been established to deal with any insecurity situation during the lockdown in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the region. The military governor of West Darfur has promised to deal with the insecurity in the state. A group of people was robbed near Garsila in Central Darfur on Wednesday.
The government of North Darfur has formed a joint emergency force consisting of members of the Sudan Armed Forces, the Military Intelligence Service, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, the General Intelligence Service, and the police.
The governor, Maj Gen Malik El Tayeb, explained in a press conference in the state capital of El
Residents of Gokar, Mawli, Bereidiyat and Usri villages in El Geneina locality urged him to start an investigation into the destruction of mango groves in the area, and demanded from the state security committee to impose the Rule of Law, and apprehend the perpetrators.
The governor promised “to punish those who seek to tamper with the lives and property of citizens” and stressed his determination to disarm civilians in West Darfur.
Robbed
On Wednesday, armed men robbed passengers of a commercial vehicle near Garsila in Central Darfur. El Shafee Abdallah, coordinator of the Central Darfur camps for the displaced, told Radio Dabanga that the vehicle was on its way from Foro Baranga in west Darfur to Adoul, 14 km west of Garsila town. The robbery was carried out by a group of gunmen riding on camels. They stole all the merchandise the vehicle was carrying, in addition to the passengers’ money and belongings. No one was injured.
• Two soldiers killed, women injured in North Darfur shootings | Radio Dabanga, April 7, 2020 | KABKABIYA
Two members of the Sudanese army were killed and two women injured in separate shooting incidents in Kabkabiya locality in North Darfur. On Monday, herders killed two Sudanese army personnel and wounded a displaced woman from Sortony camp.
Community leader Adam Juma told Radio Dabanga that a group of herders opened fire on two members of the Sudanese army and killed them instantly. “The two military men who killed were part of the Boli military garrison that is based near to Sortony camp for displaced people,” he said. Juma further confirmed that a displaced woman, Husna Abdallah, was severely wounded in the crossfire.” We don’t know the reasons or motives behind this incident,” Juma concluded.
In a separate incident, also in Kabkabiya locality, a displaced woman was seriously wounded in an armed robbery. A witness told Radio Dabanga that on Sunday night, armed men broke into three family homes. During the robbery, Darelsalam Abdelkarim, was seriously wounded. She was transferred to Kabkabiya Hospital.
• Two killed in Darfur armed robbery | Radio Dabanga, April 6, 2020 | EL MALAM
Two people were killed and a 14-year-old boy was wounded in an armed robbery in the north of South Darfur on Saturday. Witnesses told Radio Dabanga that gunmen on camels opened fire on a group of people who returned to Keila after shopping in El Malam. Ibrahim Ishag and Abdelrasoul Abdallah were killed instantly, Mohamed Ibrahim was wounded. The witnesses said that a local rescue team of army soldiers and police arrested five of the alleged perpetrators. They were transferred to El Malam Prison on Sunday.
• 65 killed in West Darfur Kerending Camp two months ago | Radio Dabanga, February 24, 2020 | KERENDING
The Higher Committee for Managing the West Darfur Crisis in Kerending Camp reported that 65 camp inhabitants were killed in the violence at the end of 2019. 42 of them died in hospitals in El Geneina, capital of West Darfur. According to Ahmed Ishag, a member of the Higher Committee, 88 wounded were transferred to Khartoum for treatment. Most of them recovered. In total, 101 victims received treatment in El Geneina.
He said that about 16,000 displaced families have been officially registered as residents of Kerending camp. However the majority, 68,000 families, have not been registered and do not have camp ID’s.
Since the violence in and near the camp in end December 2019, 47,700 families are sheltering in 36 government offices and schools in El Geneina. They live in dire conditions.
The Higher Committee for Managing the West Darfur Crisis reported six weeks ago that the violence in West Darfur two months ago was not tribal, but orchestrated by the West Darfur state authorities. It specifically held the governor and the state security committee responsible.
A delegation of the Forces for Freedom and Change concluded in the beginning of January that the attacks on the two Kerending camps and its surrounding villages were the result of “elements of the deep state achieving their personal interests”.
Local leaders explained that they can only return to the camps if their safety can be guaranteed. They say this requires that the Rapid Support Forces militia leave the city, that weapons are collected, and that the UN, the army, or the police guarantee the safety of the camps.
• West Darfur violence: final report submitted | Radio Dabanga, March 29, 2020 | EL GENEINA / KHARTOUM
On Friday, Sudan’s Attorney General, Taj El Sir El Hibir, received the final report of the investigative committee regarding the violence at the end of 2019 at Kerending camp that killed more than 80 people and displaced at least 47,000 in El Geneina in West Darfur.
In a press conference on Friday, the committee explained that the report submitted 37 criminal suits filed under Sudanese criminal law including various crimes such as homicide, robbery, premeditated injury, attempted murder, and other charges. The report also said that arrest warrants against 69 alleged perpetrators have been issued. “Some 32 out of 69 suspected people have been arrested, while there is an ongoing effort to arrest the rest,” the report stated.
• Trader killed in Sudan armed robbery | Radio Dabanga, February 24, 2020 | HABILA / ZALINGEI / KABKABIYA
A trader was killed and three people were wounded in South Kordofan over the weekend. Two others were injured in attacks in Darfur. Crops trader Hamadelnil El Mahdi was shot dead in an armed robbery near the market of Kortala in South Kordofan’s Habila locality on Saturday, a relative of the victim’s reported. Unidentified perpetrators intercepted his lorry while he was returning from the market, and indiscriminately opened fire. El Mahdi was killed instantly and three others were seriously wounded, including the driver. They were taken to Kortala Hospital.
In Zalingei, capital of Central Darfur, a group of gunmen on camels and horses opened fire and wounded Ahmed Yagoub in Tamarbol El Jemayel village, northeast of Zalingei on Saturday. Camp coordinator El Shafee Abdallah told Radio Dabanga that the gunmen then stole 23 cows. They were pursued. Four of the alleged perpetrators were detained and some of the stolen livestock was retrieved.
In a separate incident in the area of Nomoua, south of Kabkabiya in North Darfur, Rugeya Ismail was injured on her farm on Saturday, when gunmen hit her with their rifle butts.
• Gunmen kill two soldiers in Darfur | Radio Dabanga, February 17, 2020 | DUBO EL MADRASA
Five camel herders, one of them driving a motorcycle, opened fire on five soldiers from Dubo El Omda garrison in east Jebel Marra on Friday night, witnesses told Radio Dabanga. Two soldiers were killed, two were wounded. The soldiers were working at a charcoal factory near Dubo El Madrasa. The soldiers killed were Mohamed Bashir Yahya and Abdellatif Dauod. The wounded are Abdelgadir Ali and Hamdan Saleh.
Central Darfur
Haroun Eisa Abakar was wounded when a vehicle carrying passengers from Dunkouj to Nierteti was robbed in Central Darfur on Saturday. The gunmen stole SDG 3,000 ($ 57.3 *) from driver Mohamed Adam, SDG 3,000 from passenger Suleiman Omar and SDG 3,000 from the vehicle’s assistant driver Musa Abdelmajeed.
• Sudanese soldiers die in South Darfur shootout | Radio Dabanga, February 27, 2020 | EL RADOOM
Clashes between army soldiers and gunmen resulted in a number of deaths and injuries in Kafia Kingi, El Radoom locality in South Darfur on Friday. Some witnesses reported that two members of the army and three gunmen were killed. One man was wounded, while Omda Ali Jabir told Radio Dabanga that four members of the army were killed and three others were wounded, while two gunmen were wounded. He said that the incident began on Friday when three gold miners on a motorcycle passed through an inspection gate of Kafia Kingi without stopping, which prompted one of the soldiers at the gate to open fire.
The shooting resulted in the injury of two miners, while the third escaped, only to return with a number of men on motorcycles. They killed the army soldier at the gate, and then attacked another group of soldiers, and reportedly shot three of them dead and wounded three others.
Army soldiers Fadul Ayesh and Abdelkarim Mohamed were killed, as well as gunmen Mohamed Adam, Ahmed Mousa, and Jamal Ali. Mousa Bushara was wounded. The omda said that the gunmen then moved towards the market of the town and set fire to a café. The fire soon spread across the market and destroyed a large part of it. The authorities sent forces from Nyala and El Radoom to contain the shooting. The attackers fled the town and have not been arrested yet.
An informed source told Radio Dabanga from Kafia Kingi that the 30 gunmen involved in the violent incident are members of a militia led by Ali Kushayb, who has been indicted for crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC), has fled Sudan, apparently in fear of arrest by the transitional government.
On Monday, gunmen on motorcycles hijacked a vehicle belonging to the Roads and Bridges Company on the Rahid El Berdi and Tiwal road in South Darfur. They then headed towards Um Dafug, that borders the Central African Republic. A joint team of police and army members moved to pursue the attackers.
• Darfur counts human costs of war | Radio Dabanga, February 26, 2020 | TAWILA
A preliminary inventory conducted by the Ministry of Social Welfare in North Darfur shows that the number of disabled people in Tawila locality has risen to 511 as a result of the war.
Abdelaziz Adoma, a disabled person from Argo camp and a social researcher working for the Ministry of Social Welfare, told Radio Dabanga that the inventory targeted disabled people living in the Rwanda, Argo, Dabanaira, and Borgo camps in Tawila locality from 2013 to 2020. 71 boys, 52 girls, 116 women, and 272 men were found.
One of the main causes for the disabilities are amputations of legs or hands as a result of explosions of mines, unexploded ordnances (UXOs), and barrel bombs dropped by aeroplanes. Another cause is injuries sustained during raids of militia and government forces: shot wounds by (stray) bullets, and deafness, blindness, and paralysis as a result of beatings on the head.
The inventory does not include people with disabilities in other areas of the locality, notably Tabit, Dubo El Omda, Tabara, and Tarnei. Adoma said that the Swedish International Childhood Care has provided five wheel chairs for basic school students with disabilities.
He appealed to humanitarian organisations and people of good will to provide white canes for the blind, motorcycles for the amputees, trainings to raise the capabilities of the handicapped, income-generating projects, computers, and the building of a headquarters for the handicapped.