A rebel group seized 31 displaced people at gunpoint on Sunday, who were travelling to a refugee conference under the escort of UN peacekeepers in Sudan’s Darfur region.
According to a statement from the United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), a convoy of three buses was transporting the internally displaced persons (IDP’s) when they were stopped by armed men wearing military uniforms in seven jeeps with mounted guns.
UNAMID said the IDP’s were forcibly taken to an unknown location, despite opposition by peacekeepers.
The incident occurred about 6.20pm (local time) between the Arga crossing point and Kass locality, a border area between Central and South Darfur states.
Rebel leader Abdel Wahid Mohammed al-Nur, who heads a faction of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA-AW), later confirmed his group was responsible for the attack.
In comments made to Radio Dabanga, he claimed the arrests were legitimate, saying the group were mostly government security agents posing as civilians. He told the station he had evidence, including documents and ID cards, proving those arrested were not genuine IDPs.
The claims apparently contradict comments made by Nur that the arrests were a “big mistake”.
“I gave (an) order to release these people, civilians, immediately”, he said,
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