Death toll 15 from attack on North Darfur market

The death toll of the attack by militiamen on Ba'ashim in North Darfur this week rose from ten to 15 people. During the raid on the market, 17 people sustained bullet wounds.

Reports received yesterday said that Hillet Mandi and Hawariya were raided on Tuesday too, besides Ba'ashim market, northeast of Kutum. A witness said that five other people were killed in Ed El Garad and Tema, in addition to the 13 Dabanga reported on Wednesday.

“Mohamed Ali, Tema Abakar Suleiman, Ibrahim Hamed Hamad, Mandola Ibrahim Khamis, and Jaffar have died,” the witness reported. He added that Hawa Ahmed Mohamed, Zahra Mohamed, Abdallah Shalabi, and Adam Younis were injured in the attack on Tuesday.

Ba'ashim market was raided in the afternoon, by militiamen in dozens of vehicles. Mohamed Ahmed Minawi Digeish, independent MP for Um Baru and Karnoi localities, explained that the gunmen “immediately seized ten merchants, tied them together and murdered them”. “After the attackers left, with huge numbers of livestock, the people discovered that 22 merchants and customers had disappeared.”

“The Rapid Support Forces and Border Guard troops subject the population northeast of Kutum, Um Baru, and Karnoi localities to killings, rapes, and robberies since the start of the military campaign,” the witness stressed to Dabanga on Thursday. “Despite these horrific incidents, the authorities did not intervene to stop the violence.”