Nyala , June 23(Darfur 24)
Three people were killed and six others injured on Sunday evening in an attack carried out by unknown assailants following the evening prayer in the Al-Thawra neighborhood, west of the city of Nyala, South Darfur.
Eyewitnesses and medical sources who spoke to Darfur 24 said that the perpetrators “stopped the victims and demanded that they hand over their money and phones after they left the mosque.”
They indicated that the victims refused to hand over their money and phones, prompting the armed perpetrators to throw a grenade before fleeing the scene.
A relative of the victims, Ahmed Mohammed, told Darfur 24 that the attackers were riding a motorcycle and carried out the attack at the mosque gate after failing to seize the worshippers’ belongings.
A medical source at Nyala Teaching Hospital confirmed that they had received three bodies and six injured people, noting that some cases were critical and required urgent surgical intervention.
Eyewitness Wajdan Ibrahim Ahmed said that the gunmen had previously carried out looting operations in the Khartoum Belil neighborhood, west of the Thawra neighborhood, before attacking the worshippers.
A police source in Nyala North, who requested anonymity, revealed to Darfur 24 that three patrols were dispatched to the scene under the direct supervision of the state police chief, Lieutenant Colonel Khalid Mohamed Nour, and have begun pursuing the perpetrators.
The source reported that the police received repeated reports this week about three armed men riding a motorcycle carrying out looting and attacks in various neighborhoods of Nyala North.
South Darfur has been experiencing a state of insecurity since the Rapid Support Forces took control of the state in October 2023, following the withdrawal of the 16th Infantry Division from Nyala, following violent clashes that began in mid-April of the same year.
Nyala is suffering from an escalation in violence and armed robbery, along with kidnappings of merchants and doctors, with armed groups demanding ransoms for the release of the abductees.
Major markets in the city, such as the Geneina Bus Station Market and the Popular Market, have been subjected to repeated looting attacks in recent months, prompting many merchants to close their shops.