Dozens detained in West Kordofan militia raids

On Wednesday, members of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Sudan’s main government militia, reportedly held about 23 people at the Um Kireidem market in Sunut in West Kordofan and took them to the prison of Abu Zabad as part of a campaign ‘to collect weapons and arrest suspects wanted for criminal offences’.

A disarmament campaign in Darfur (file photo)

On Wednesday, members of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Sudan’s main government militia, reportedly held about 23 people at the Um Kireidem market in Sunut in West Kordofan and took them to the prison of Abu Zabad as part of a campaign ‘to collect weapons and arrest suspects wanted for criminal offences’.

Witnesses told Radio Dabanga that a RSF force in “dozens of vehicles” raided the weekly Um Kireidem market, “held the people in one of the squares of the market in a humiliating manner before the arrest of 23 people.”

Those arrested are accused of using violence in a recent dispute between the Misseriya and Hamar tribes, and of possession of weapons.

Witnesses reported that detainees from Bambon, Galeisa, Barbash, and En Nahud were also moved to Abu Zabad prison.

They pointed out that the raids shocked the people in the area and found condemnation from large sectors.