Darfur carjackings continue with incident near Zamzam
October 22, 2008 (EL FASHER) – A vehicle belonging to a national NGO was carjacked on Tuesday by unknown armed men on the road between Zamzam internally displaced persons (IDP) camp and a peacekeeping military camp, according to a press release from the UN-African Union hybrid mission in Darfur (UNAMID).
On the same day, UN Security confirmed that the vehicle was recovered by members of the Sudan Liberation Army-Minni Minawi (SLA/M) a few kilometers from the Zamzam IDP camp and all the five staff members were found without any injury.
Reports of carjackings this year in Darfur are high. The UN Secretary General reported on Friday: “So far this year, 208 humanitarian vehicles have been hijacked, 155 aid workers abducted (43 WFP-contracted drivers remain unaccounted for), and 123 premises broken into. Because of this targeted violence, two major non-governmental organizations assisting more than 500,000 civilians in Northern Darfur alone were forced to suspend their activities during the reporting period.”
Many incidents have occurred despite the nearby presence of peacekeepers. UNAMID reported Oct. 6 that one of its vehicles carjacked about 500 meters from a base near Nyala town. Another incident occurred within half a kilometer of UNAMID Sector West Headquarters, when two engineering staff escaped an ambush by suspected janjaweed on Sept. 14. According to their report, this incident took place near a government military detachment.
UNAMID reported Oct. 15 that a vehicle belonging to the aid organization Triangle was carjacked at Bergei, 12 km from Mukjar UNAMID camp. The carjackers took one satellite phone and money from the Triangle staff and fled with their car to the west.
Tuesday’s incident near Zamzam camp follows a number of September attacks in the area, including an alleged assault on the market by government police, the carjacking of a UNAMID sewage truck the same day, and reports that 10-12 government police vehicles fired indiscriminately while passing outside Zamzam, killing two people and injuring three, while two others were abducted.
(ST)