Blind sheikh detained in Central Darfur

On Monday afternoon the security services arrested Sheikh Matar Younis, a cleric and native administrator in Darfur, from his home in the stadium district of Zalingei.

Koran class in El Waha, near El Fasher, North Darfur (File photo: Mohamed Yousif Adam/Unamid)

On Monday afternoon the security services arrested Sheikh Matar Younis, a cleric and native administrator in Darfur, from his home in the stadium district of Zalingei.

El Shafee Abdallah, the coordinator of displaced camps in Central Darfur, told Dabanga radio that a security force arrested the sheikh from his house and took him to their offices.

Abdallah explained that Sheikh Younis, a blind, prominent cleric who is over 60 years old, has a Koran School in Zalingei.

He said that Sheikh Younis always stood with the concerns of the Sudanese people, especially the displaced. He condemned the arrest of the activist cleric and called for his release and held the security services and the state responsible for any harm afflicting him.

Attack

Two people were wounded by gunfire by militiamen in an attack on the villages of Dubo El Omda in Tawila locality in North Darfur.

People told Radio Dabanga that the attack was carried out by a group of militias in two Land Cruisers, and on motorcycles, camels and horses.

They said that at around 8 am on Tuesday the gunmen fired the densely populated villages of Dubo El Omda, wounding Hamdallah Yousif Hamid and Ibrahim Ishag Younis. They then stormed the villages and seized about 400 cows and left the area.