West Darfur killings spark large-scale protest march

The killing of six people near El Geneina, West Darfur, on Wednesday sparked widespread protests that denounced the incident and demanded the overthrowing of the regime.

One of the six killed people in El Geneina locality, West Darfur, on March 13 (RD)

The killing of six people near El Geneina,  West Darfur, on Wednesday sparked widespread protests in the state capital that denounced the incident and demanded the overthrowing of the regime.

Gunmen attacked six displaced people from Ardamata camp who were collecting straw at Arafa, east of El Geneina Airport. The attackers were blocked in their attempt to rob the displaced people of their donkey carts.

The cart owners confronted the gunmen and killed three of them, while wounding two others. The gunmen injured two of the cart owners.

A source in the area reported to Radio Dabanga that the cart owners surrendered themselves to the police after the incident. Witnesses said that the gunmen returned in two vehicles, kidnapped three people near the Ardamata camp. They tied two of the abductees down and shot them dead.

The third person was tied to one of their vehicles and dragged until he died.

The incident sparked anger among people in Ardamata camp and in El Geneina town, who went out in a large demonstration to denounce the violence and demand the regime to be overthrown.

The demonstration turned into a march from Ardamata, with people carrying the bodies of the dead, through the street of El Geneina before heading to the government secretariat and the house of the Sultan of the Masalit tribe.

A video on Twitter shows demonstrators walking to the market and security forces watching from the sidelines.

In outer reaches of #Darfur region, western #Sudan, large-scale protests move toward the market of Al Junaynah (الجنينة), here: https://t.co/BmId3KRFKv. Note: security forces watch from the sidelines in pickups and BTRs. #تسقط_بس #موكب14مارس h/t to @3ngraibNews for video. pic.twitter.com/WnYNM59qHD

— Benjamin Strick (@BenDoBrown) 14 March 2019

During the protest, shops in the market were closed, as a number of shop owners joined the protesters, according to a witness.

A month ago, people in El Geneina took part in a night demonstration to demand the step–down of Omar Al Bashir and his regime from rule of power.