Five killed in ongoing Darfur police station clash

UPDATE 19:15 In continued clashes between policemen and militiamen, five persons were killed and others were injured in Central Darfur’s Bindisi locality on Friday afternoon.

(UPDATE 19:15) In continued clashes between policemen and militiamen, five persons were killed and others were injured in Central Darfur's Bindisi locality on Friday afternoon.

A witness reported to Radio Dabanga that a meeting was held today, in the commissioner's office, to agree upon the amount to be compensated for the killing of a militia member. The man was shot dead by a policeman in the Bindisi police station on Thursday.

The meeting concluded in the decision that the police must pay 50 cows and SDG50,000 ($8,163) as a compensation for the killed militiaman. 

Militia commander Hamouda Hamdan, however, refused the refund in the meeting. His militiamen attacked the police station and killed two policemen. Three of the attackers were killed.

"The fighting has expanded. Military commanders are fighting on the side of the policemen. A number of residents from several neighbourhoods in the town fled out of the town.

"Clashes are ongoing," he reported on Friday evening.

A witness told Radio Dabanga on Thursday that the local authorities issued a decision prohibiting the entry of any armed person to the police station in Bindisi.

“On Thursday afternoon, one militia member insisted on entering the station with his weapons. A policeman opened fire on him and killed him on the spot. This led to an attack by allied militiamen against the police station.” The fighting between the militia and police continued until Thursday evening.

Saraf Umra

In North Darfur's Saraf Umra locality, a clash between cattle thieves and locals resulted in the killing of one of the robbers on Wednesday, a listener said. They had stolen two cows and were tracked by a local rescue team. The other thieves managed to escape.

In a second incident that day, armed men fired on a group of people that were on their way from Saraf Umra to Birkat Seira. Mahmoud Abaker Sharafulding was seriously wounded and Yassin Yahya Abdallah sustained minot injuties. Both were transferred to the hospital in Saraf Umra for treatment