El-Fasher, June 9(Darfur24)
Armed confrontations between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF )in the city of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, led to an increase in the price of travel tickets from the city to Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state, from 30 thousand pounds to 100 thousand pounds, with a scarcity of means of transportation in light of the exposure to armed looting.
Driver of a passengee bus working on Nyala-El-Fasher road, Issa Ismail Ibrahim, told “Darfur 24” the reasons for the high ticket prices were the difficulty of obtaining gasoline from El-Fasher, where the price of a gallon reached 30 thousand pounds, and the risk of death for the driver due to the presence bandits in the road and increase of the number of people fleeing from El-Fasher to Nyala.
Issa pointed out that there are 36 checkpoints between Nyala and El Fasher, especially after the area of Shangil Tobay, Umm Draisay, Ghabat Hamada, and Al-Baladiya, just before Manawashi, which has a total of 12 gates, in addition to the El-Fasher Abu Zureika gates, 6 gates.
He said that the rest of the checkpoints are located between Manawashi and Nyala and in the areas of kilometer 40 parallel to the Jurf area, passing through the Damah, Ander and Umm Sayala areas, until the Al-Fasher gate in the city of Nyala.
He added: “At each checkpoints, they ask for the minimum of 3,000 pounds, and if you refuse to pay, you will be quickly robbed and robbed.”
He reported that he was robbed twice before the Shangil Tobay area while they were traveling from El Fasher to Nyala, and the amount of 2 million in his possession was looted, along with the passengers’ phones, floggings with whips, and the butts of the weapons of the passengers. The second time was the day before yesterday, Friday, while they were shipping goods from Nyala to El Fasher, and they were looted in the Umm Draisay area in Al-Midan before the area. Some amounts, skin and transport the goods to their vehicle.
The driver, Imad al-Din Othman Abkar, confirmed to “Darfur 24” that there was no option for another route after some armed tribal militias took control of the El-Fasher-Dar-Salam-Nitaqa road at night in Nyala and set up gates where prohibitive fees were imposed on the car.
He added, “Although the road is considered safe in terms of looting, for example, an amount of 50 thousand pounds is imposed on it at each gate, depending on the mood of the leader of the group present, and you must pay it, otherwise you will not move until you pay. In each area there is an entry and exit gate, and their number is about 8 areas.”
He denied the presence of the Rapid Support Forces or armed movements on the way to Nyala, and considered them armed tribal militias that took advantage of the fluidity of security and the absence of law.
The 11-seater passenger cars transport passengers between the two cities after the buses carrying 46 passengers stopped due to their slow movement and their need for more than 3 days to get to and from Nyala and El Fasher.