Body of abducted Dar Qala leader returned to family in Sudan’s North Darfur

January 2, 2026 (KARNOI) – The body of Shartai Adam Sabi, traditional leader of the Dar Qala district in Sudan’s North Darfur state, has been handed to his family months after gunmen abducted him from Karnoi, the local administration said on Friday.

Sabi, a senior figure within the Zaghawa tribe, was seized on August 18, three days after a drone strike hit a community meeting in Tine on the Sudan-Chad border. Some local officials accused him of supplying coordinates for the gathering to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The Dar Qala administration said Sabi “died a martyr of treachery” but gave no details of how or when he was killed. Community mediators in Sudan and Chad located the body after weeks of negotiations and delivered it to relatives in Tine on Friday, two tribal sources told Sudan Tribune.

Sources suggested the tribal leader was likely killed shortly after his disappearance and buried in a secret location within Sudanese territory before the recent recovery.

The discovery follows a period of intense instability for the family; on September 16, the Shartai’s son, Maulana al-Tijani Adam Sabi, who served as the chief prosecutor of North Kordofan state, was assassinated by gunmen at his residence in El Obeid. Judicial authorities have not yet released the findings of an investigation into that killing.

The abduction and subsequent death of the tribal leader triggered significant internal strife within the Zaghawa ethnic group. In October, violent clashes broke out between Sabi’s clan and another branch of the tribe, resulting in several deaths and injuries.

The unrest led to the burning of several villages, including Tandubaya, before the violence spread to the areas of Abu Gamra and Abu Leiha. Traditional leaders eventually managed to contain the immediate fighting, though tensions remained high until the fate of the Shartai was confirmed today.