Women, child gunned-down in Darfur’s East Jebel Marra

Four women and a boy were shot dead in Wadi Ashara in East Jebel Marra today.

Multiple witnesses told Radio Dabanga that a group of paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in five armed Land Cruisers stormed Wadi Ashara, north of Mashrou Abu Zeid, this morning, and started stealing livestock.

“When some women protested, they fired at them. Aisha Omar Salem (40), Kaltoum Yahya Suleiman (38), Khadeeja Adam Yagoub (35), Zahra Abakar Ali (27), and Abdellateef Haroun Adam (12) were killed instantly,” a source reported. “17 cows and eight donkeys also died in the shooting”.

The witnesses reported that the militiamen stole 270 head of cattle in total.

They added that the attackers were part of a force of RSF militia troops in 35 armed vehicles that had arrived near the valley.

“After the killing of the women and theft of the cattle, the militiamen fired heavily in the direction of the valley, where 201 newly displaced with their livestock sought refuge from attacks on the villages of Sorre, Tarny, Debbat Naira, and Goz Dor, early in January,” one of the witnesses said.

“The shooting ignited several fires in the area, but we do not know yet if there were casualties,” he added.