Firewood collector killed, village raided in South Darfur

One man was killed, and a boy kidnapped for several hours by militiamen in Gireida. Other militiamen raped a woman and injured two men during a raid on Tur in Kass locality.

A displaced man was killed when collecting firewood in Gireida locality, South Darfur, this morning. On Thursday, militiamen kidnapped a boy for several hours in Gireida. During a raid on Tur village, in Kass locality, a woman was raped. Two men sustained serious injuries.

A listerner from Gireida told Dabanga that ten militiamen opened fire on Ali Mohamed Ali at 10 am on Friday, 10 km west of the town, and killed him on the spot. Ali was collecting firewood in the area of Hashaba. They took his donkey cart, and ran off on their camels and horses. “We have reported the incident to the police,” the witness said, “but they did not move.”

Five militiamen on camels kidnapped a seven-year-old boy when he was collecting firewood with his father in Shanga, 4 km south of Gireida, on Thursday. They tied the father with rope to a tree by his hands and legs before taking off with Mohamed Saber Ali Yagoub.

The father managed to free himself, and returned to Gireida. The source said that people panicked upon hearing the father's story. “Others decided to track the kidnappers. The traces led to a small settlement where they found the abducted boy and brought him back to Gireida.”

He explained that the police was informed about the incident and that they followed the perpetrators, but these seemed to have already left the area.

A group of women was assaulted by militiamen on Wednesday when they were gathering firewood south of Gireida. They were severely beaten, and one of them was gang-raped.

Village invaded

On Wednesday evening, members of the Rapid Support Forces raided the village of Tur, in Kass locality. Several of them raped a woman at gunpoint inside her house. They also stole her belongings, witnesses said. Jamal Ahmed El Haj and Ahmed Hassan Suleiman were seriously injured during the raid. Today (Friday), Jamal El Haj was transferred from Kass to Nyala, and from there to a hospital in Khartoum for treatment.

The witnesses added that they had informed the commander of the nearby military garrison, captain Zakaria Abdallah Abdelshaafi, about the incident. “He replied that he cannot protect us.”