Gunmen rob bank in capital of South Darfur state: police
December 6, 2013 (KHARTOUM) – An unidentified group of armed men has robbed a money exchange agent of the Nile Bank in South Darfur state capital of Nyala and stole 130.000 SDG ($22.000).
The commissioner of Nyala locality, Abdel-Rahman Hussein Gardoud, said in a press conference on Thursday that 4 armed men wearing army uniform and riding a shaded Hyunday Accent vehicle which doesn’t carry license plates have attacked a money exchange agent of the Nile Bank in the industrial zone.
He added that money was stolen without resistance and stressed that bankers, and guards were unharmed, also the bank building was not damaged. He affirmed that police and security forces rushed into the crime scene and chased the perpetrators.
Gardoud further pointed that criminal charges were filed at East of Nyala police station and added that regular forces have tightened security at all city entry points besides forming a permanent follow-up room.
He, however, described the incident as “minor”, saying that perpetrators of all previous similar incidents were captured and brought to justice.
South Darfur State and its capital Nyala, the largest town in the region, have been witnessing a state of security breakdown. Incidents of armed robbery have increased.
The government claims that most of the armed gangs which carry out robbery belong to rebel groups while observers acknowledge that government militias also attack and loot commercial convoys.
Last September, Ismail Wadi, a prominent businessman from the Zaghawa tribe, was killed along with his son and a relative by allegedly Janjaweed militia.
Last July, deadly clashes erupted between members of security apparatus and a tribal militia which led to the death of First Lieutenant Ammar Anwar al-Haj and police assistant Mohammed Abdullah Sharara who is nicknamed ‘Dekrom’ and also hails from the powerful Rezeigat tribe.
The upsurge of violence in Darfur brings the region back to the fore after its conflict was overshadowed by more recent wars in Sudan’s southern regions of South Kordofan and Blue Nile.
In the same context, the acting governor of South Darfur state, Mahdi Mohamed Bosch, has called upon media to work towards achieving peaceful coexistence and enhancing social peace among all components of Darfur society besides renouncing tribal violence.
Bosch, who addressed the forum on the role of media in enhancing culture of peace in Darfur on Thursday, said that tribal conflicts have badly harmed the state in all domains particularly development.
The minister of culture and information at the Darfur Regional Authority (DRA), Ibrahim Mahmoud Madibu, for his part said that the forum aims to activate the role of regional media and develop a media strategy as part of implementing the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD).
He added that the forum would discuss the current situation of the local media and the challenges facing it and support for social peace and democratic transformation issues besides the role of media in achieving peace and comprehensive development in Darfur.
The DPPD was signed between the Sudanese government signed with the rebel Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM) on 14 July 2011. The DRA was created as part of the DPPD, with the LJM’s leader Tijani El-Sissi its chairman.
Most of Darfur’s rebel groups still continue to oppose the DPPD, namely the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and two factions of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) led by Abdel Wahid Al-Nur and Minnin Minnawi.
(ST)