PDF recruits implicated in murder of South Darfur commissioner

July 13, 2014 (KHARTOUM) – South Darfur governor Adam Mahmoud Jar Elnabi has implicated members of the Popular Defence Forces (PDF) in the killing of Katila commissioner Abdallah Yassen last week.

The commissioner of Katila county, 156km south-west of Nyala, was killed in ambush while travelling from Nyala to his county on 6 July. The assailants also stole a large sum of money intended for the salaries of municipality staff.

The governor told the family of the slain commissioner on Sunday that following preliminary results of the investigation, the prosecutor charged nine recruits of the paramilitary forces with involvement in the commissioner murder.

He further disclosed that the prosecutor sent a letter to the PDF coordinator in South Darfur state requesting him to hand over the suspects for interrogation.

Yassen was killed along with his bodyguard, while four other people travelling with him were also injured.

Jar Elnabi previously admitted that it was difficult to end criminal activities within a year, blaming the proliferation of weapons for ongoing security issues in the region.

In a briefing to the African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) last week, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, the head of the African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), said that militia groups and attendant criminality and banditry continues to be a source of major concern in Darfur.

“More needs to be done therefore to disarm these militias as part of the broader and concerted efforts towards the achievement of comprehensive peace in Darfur,” he said.

(ST)