Civilians killed and injured by armed Arab militias in Darfur, Sudan:

On Wednesday, May 26, 2020, at around 3:00 am in the morning, armed militias attacked residents in the village of Bumbla, in Sarf Amra locality in North Darfur state. The militias randomly fired live bullets on the village, injuring a number of the residents. This incident also resulted to the displacement of many others.

Names of the injured:

1- Abdullah Ali Mohammed Abdullah, 52 year old. Shot and I injured on the legs

2- Sadiq Hassan saaid Mohammed, 61year old, was beaten on the back with a stick.

3- Abdul-Azim Sadiq Hassan, 19 year old. Shot and injured on the left shoulder

4- Abdullah Ibrahim Dawood, 25 year old. Shot and injured on the right shoulder and beaten on both legs with a stick and whips. There are women in Sarf Amra village who were assaulted but have not been identified yet.

Witnesses say the dawn attack on the village followed the assault the previous day on 11 farmers and destruction of the entire onion farms (see below).

On May 25, 2020, in North Darfur El-fasher, there was an attack on 11 farmers on their farms in Barakat Saira near to Sarf Omra. According to eyewitnesses, cows belonging to Jaber Yousif, the leader of a local Arab militia were left to enter into and graze on the farm of Al-Taher Abdullah Abkar.

The owner of the farm took the cows to the corral (cattle holding area manned by the Police) in Sarfa. Later, armed shepherds went to the corral headquarters where they exchanged fire with the police and forcefully opened the corral and took out the cows. This group of armed Arab militias used the butt of their ‘Dabashk’ weapons and other objects to assault and beat some farmers and destroyed the entire onion farms.

The names of the injured farmers are:

1- Al-Taher Abdullah Abkar, 39 year old. Hit on the head with a stick.

2- Al-Tayyeb Abdul-Aziz Yousif, 43 years old. Hit on the back of the head and right hand with a stick

3- Mohy Al-Dean Mohammed Abdullah, 12 year old. Hit in the left leg with the stick

4- Jamal Al-Dean Jumbin Mohammed Taher, 32 year old. Hit on the head with a sword

5- Adam Ramadan Gabriel, 20 year old. Hit on the right hand with a sword

6- Muhammad al-Rashid Yagoub, 17 year old. Beaten by stick.

7- Abdel-Qader Adam Abdel-Nabi, 23 year old. Hit on the hand with a sword and stabbed in the right shoulder

8- Badreddine Aaron Ismail, 20 year old.  Hit on the head and the right hand with a stick

9- Habib Abdul-Aziz Yousif, 40 year old.  Hit on the head and the left hand with a stick.

10- Makkah Ibrahim Adam, 21 year old. Hit on the head and left hand with a stick.

11- Huda Abkar Adam, 17 year old. Hit on the shoulder with a stick.

No arrests were made in connection with the above incidents.

On May 25, 2020, at around 3:00 p.m. in Bale village, Nertite, Central Darfur, Issa Abu al-Qasim Ismail, a 35 year old from the northern camp, was shot at about 3 kilometers northeast of Nertite, by three  armed militia men dressed in military uniforms, riding horses. Issa, an IDP had gone for work in the Mango farms valley near Nertite. According to eyewitnesses, three armed individuals accused him of stealing some sheep, which he denied.  He was then shot at and the bullet hit his right shoulder blade. People in the area took him to the local hospital from where he was transferred to Nyala Teaching Hospital on the same day for surgery, but died before reaching the hospital.

IDPs, the internally displaced persons in the northern camp in Nertite complained that they feel insecure because of the presence of the armed militias. They have confined themselves in the camp to avoid contact with them.

On May 21, 2020, three civilians were killed and seven wounded by armed militias in Gereida, Nyala, South Darfur. The incident happened at around 5 pm in Wadi Khaddari when about 20 armed militias belonging to the Fallata tribes and riding camels shot at three vehicles that were coming from the Al-Nadhif Market in Bram to Gereida locality. Their belongings including large sums of cash were also looted. One of the drivers managed to escape and reported the incident to the Gereida police, but the report was not followed up on the same day. The dead bodies and the wounded were taken to a local hospital in Gereida.

The men killed in the ambush are:

1- Adam Shamin is a 46-year-old.

2- Hassoun Yaqoub Othman, 50 year old.

3- Abdul-Qader Abdul-Rahman Al-Rayah, 35 years old.

The seven civilians that were injured are:

1- Saeed Muhammad Khamis.

2- – Abdul Karim Musa Jama.

3- Mohammad Abdullah Ahmed.

4- Musa Abdul Rahman Osman.

5- Mohamed Ahmed Mohamed.

6- Abdullah Musa Yagoub.

7- Mahmoud Mohamed Abdel Karim.

Members of the civilian population remain in fear for their lives from COVID-19 pandemic. And also, fear for their lives attack by armed militias. The time is ripe for the GoS to take concrete steps to build the trust of the people of Darfur in its security forces.

Darfur Network for Monitoring and Documentation Network (DNMD) notes the need for urgent security sector reforms and the need to professionalize and build the capacity of the different security forces in order for them to execute their duties with professionalism and without bias or favor on the basis of ethnicity or tribal affiliations or for any other reasons.

DNMD also appeals to the United Nations and the African Union not to turn their backs on the people in Darfur who depend on peacekeepers for protection. The decision to close UNAMID will leave a vacuum in areas of protection of civilians which the GoS is not yet able and willing to fill despite the volatile security environment in Darfur.