15 people killed, 11 injured by gunmen in South Darfur
November 26, 2014 (NYALA) – Fifteen people were killed and 11 others injured in an attack by gunmen on the village of Hamada, 85km north-west of the capital of South Darfur state, Nyala, on Tuesday.
Leaders from the village of Munwashi which lies 16km west of Hamada came to the village on Tuesday to recite the Qur’an and offer their blessings to the reopening of the commercial market.
Gunmen riding horses and camels opened heavy fires on the bus carrying Munwashi leaders on their way back from the village at Wadi Hagar, 2km west of Hamada killing 12 people immediately, an eyewitness told Sudan Tribune.
A woman died later in Munwashi hospital of her wounds while two others died in Nyala hospital on Wednesday morning, stressing that 11 wounded people are still receiving treatment.
The source underscored the survivors identified several attackers, pointing they belong to a rival tribe which seeks to abort the voluntary return program because it has benefited from the land and water and grazing resources of Hamada.
The names of the dead received by Sudan Tribune include Adam Abdel-Nabi, Gamal al-Din Ahmadai, Ahmed Simi Gido, Ahmed Abdalla Bushara, Hassan Adam Galabi, Sulieman Abdalla Mohamed, Ismail Abdel-Karim Gamal al-Din, Asma Abdalla Ibrahim, Al-Hadi Musa Hassan, Mohamed Adam Ibrahim, Al-Hadi Mohamed Abdalla, Mohamed Adam Ibrahim and Salih Musa.
While the list of names of the injured include Ahmed Sulieman, Ibrahim Yaqoub, Ahmed Adam Mohamed, Hassan Adam Mohamed, Mohamed Adam Sanousi, Ahmed Ibrahim Rashid, Abdel-Razig Hassan Abdalla, Musa Abdalla Younis, Afaf Ahmed Adam, Musa Adam Mohamed Taher, Abbakar Gameel Ahmed Abdalla, Asma abdel-Rahman Mohamed and Ahmed Abdel-Rahim al-Safi.
South Darfur state has witnessed a near total security breakdown in recent months with recurrent incidents of looting, banditry and murder including from pro-government militias.
Businessmen and commercial convoys in South Darfur are regularly attacked by armed gangs which demand ransom for their release.
On 15 July, the governor of South Darfur state, Adam Mahmoud Jar al-Nabi, declared an indefinite emergency situation in South Darfur state, including a curfew from 7pm to 7am (local time) in the capital Nyala.
The decision also banned riding of motorcycles by more than one person, holding weapons while wearing civilian clothes, vehicles driving around without license plates, and wearing a kadamool (turban which covers the face).
It also prohibited tinted glasses on cars in Nyala even for government officials unless permission is being obtained from the traffic police. The decision further prevented firing of gunshots in social events in Nyala.
A special tribunal has been set up to investigate crimes, with residents supplied with phone numbers to contact authorities to report crimes and other violations of the emergency laws.
In October, South Darfur state’s legislative council passed the community security act which banned use of the four-wheel drive vehicles and motorcycles inside the state.
The law criminalises any person who drives a four-wheel drive vehicle or motorcycle within the state boundaries.
GOVERNOR CONFIRMS ATTACK
The governor of South Darfur state, Adam Mahmoud Jar al-Nabi, said at a press conference on Wednesday that an armed group comprised of four people on camels ambushed a truck carrying a popular committee, including 30 people from the village of Munwashi.
He said the committee members, most of whom are Imams (prayer leaders), were on their way back to Munwashi from Hamada where they went to celebrate the voluntary return of 700 families two weeks ago, stressing that 15 people were killed in the ambush and 10 others injured.
Meanwhile, thousands of people have demonstrated in Munwashi in protest of the massacre against the defenceless civilians, demanding the government to provide security for the returnees.
Jar al-Nabi, who arrived in the incident scene along with the security committee, said that security forces have been deployed in the area to calm the security situation in order to continue the voluntary return program in the state.
He underscored there are groups of outlaws who stand against the return of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) to their original villages, pointing the state carried out a voluntary return program for more than 900 families to two different areas in less than a month.
The governor further said he formed an investigation committee on the incident to reveal the identity of the perpetrators and bring them to justice, pointing his government does not have the capacity to end the state of lawlessness completely.
The residents of Hamada had been driven to Munwashi in 2007 following a massacre which led to the killing of 75 people.
(ST)