Sudan’s militiamen kill over 70 people in Jebel Marra – Darfur rebels
September 3, 2010 (KHARTOUM) — Seventy four people were killed and ninety seven others wounded when militiamen loyal to the Sudanese government opened fire yesterday afternoon on a crowd in Tabra, a village in the northern part of Jebel Marra, a rebel group reported Friday.
“The attack started at 2 o’clock pm on Thursday, the day of the weekly market (souk) of the village, and where a large crowd were gathered” said Abdel Rahman Nimir, military spokesperson of the Sudan Liberation Army loyal to Abdel Wahid Al-Nur.
“The assailants are led by a notorious militia leader called Al-Nur Ahmed,” he added. The latter and his militia are based in Ome, a village at seven kilometers from Tabra.
Nimir said there were 18 schoolchildren among the 74 civilians killed during the attack. He indicated that the market is located at 20 meters from Tabra elementary school.
The spokesperson of Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) in statements on Friday to the government supported media Sudanese Media Center website (SMC) denied the attack.
Al-Sawarmi Khalid said troops belonging to the army were attacked by a group of bandits stressing that they repelled the attackers and killed 27 of them without elaborating. He further denied any attacks against any village.
UNAMID told Reuters they had unconfirmed reports about the death of 45 people in the attack.
“Our security received reports that armed men on camels and horses rode into the market area and indiscriminately began firing upon civilians,” said Chris Cycmanick, the official spokesperson of the peacekeeping mission.
Cycmanick further said SLA rebels barred them from entering the village to investigate the incident.
However, the rebel spokesperson dismissed UNAMID statements asserting they had informed the peacekeepers in Tawila about the incident and urged them to intervene to protect the civilians who were in imminent danger.
“Again we call on the UNAMID to contact us and come to Tabra and we are ready to cooperate with them to accomplish their mandate in the protection of civilians not only there but in all the areas under our control” he stressed.
Regarding SAF statements, he said Sudanese army used to deny attacks in Jebel Marra. He also said they had no military presence among civilians’ settlements in Tabra or elsewhere.
Last July the International Criminal Court added genocide charges against Sudanese President Omer Hassan Al-Bashir. The later already faces seven counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his alleged role in orchestrating extermination campaign against the African tribes of the Fur, Masaalit and Zaghawa living in Sudan’s Darfur.
Nimir accused the assailants of robbery saying they captured all the vehicles and goods in Tabra market. “They also threatened to burn the neighboring villages,” he said.
According to the rebel official, the grave cases among the 79 wounded civilians were transported to MSF dispensary in Tawila, and Al-Fasher.
The African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies called today on the international community to invest more efforts to protect civilians in the restive region of Darfur where over 300,000 people died, according to the UN agencies.
“The African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies believes that these acts may constitute war crimes and calls on relevant UN representatives to initiate a full and thorough investigation, with both the local militia and SAF perpetrators held accountable,” the group said.
(ST)