Gunmen attack gold-miners in Sudan’s North Kordofan
March 22, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – A group of gunmen on Thursday robbed six vehicles belonging to local gold-miners in western Sudan’s region of North Kordofan.
The victims of the robbery recounted that 23 robbers riding a Land Cruiser equipped with a machine gun intercepted their convoy on the road between Al-Malha and Hamra Al-Shaikh localities in North Kordofan State.
They added that the assailants had forced them to exit the vehicles at gunpoint and robbed everything they had, including eight gold-detection devices.
Gold-miners told reporters in Al-Obeid after their arrival on Thursday that were forced to walk on foot during more than eight hours. Further, they were outraged by the incident and held the government responsible for not providing security in gold-mining areas.
“The government is marginalising us and we have remained patient and now [rebel] movements come to attack us and the government is silent,” said Alhadi Suraj El-Deen, one of victims of the robbery.
“We will not stay silent and the government must take responsibility,” he added.
The North Kordofan is one of the states affected by Darfur conflict. Rebels from the Justice and Equality Movement attacked government garrisons in the state last December where the government killed the leader of the rebel group Khalil Ibrahim.
(ST)