5 people killed, 6 injured by armed militia in South Darfur
December 14, 2014 (NYALA) – Five people were killed and six others were injured on Saturday in an attack carried out by an armed militia in Abujabra area in the locality of Graida in Sudan’s South Darfur state.
Abujabra chieftain Ismail Yahia told Sudan Tribune on Monday that well-known tribal militias attacked the area, adding that those militias have a clear stance against voluntary return of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).
He underscored that these militias have warned against the return of residents to Abujabra several times, adding that they are aware of the identity of the perpetrators.
Yahia said the injured were transferred to Graida hospital for treatment and that one of the wounded was taken to Nyala hospital in a critical condition.
He went on to say that the residents have staged large demonstration in protest of the attack against the unarmed civilians.
Sudan Tribune recalls that more than 340 displaced families have returned to Abujabra within the framework of the IDP voluntary return program carried out by the state’s government.
The commissioner of Giraida, Yahia Abddel-Banat, said the state government has sent military reinforcements to protect villages of voluntary return, noting that the program requires huge efforts to enable the IDPs to leave the camps and return to their original villages.
In November, 15 people were killed and 11 others injured in a similar attack by gunmen on the village of Hamada, 85km north-west of the capital of South Darfur state, Nyala.
State governor Adam Mahmoud Jar al-Nabi said at the time the attackers were groups of outlaws who stood against the return of the IDPs to their original villages, adding that the state had carried out a voluntary return program for more than 900 families to two different areas in less than a month.
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, 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.
(ST)