Nyala , April 12(Darfur 24)
A Rapid Support Forces (RSF) Major General Ahmed Barakatallah was killed on Saturday after being shot during clashes between the RSF and armed outlaws in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur State. The clashes also claimed the lives of civilians.
Sources told Darfur 24 that a RSF force led by Major General Ahmed Barakatallah clashed with armed men in market in Nyala as part of a campaign to combat “negative phenomena”.
They indicated that the clashes resulted in the injury of Major General Ahmed Barakatallah, who died of his wounds before being taken to the hospital. A number of armed outlaws were also killed.
They said the clashes led to the closure of the main market in the city of Nyala.
RSF in Nyala banned the carrying of weapons in public places. Eyewitnesses told Darfur 24 that an anti-negative phenomena force attempted to arrest an armed individual inside a market, but he refused to comply.
The armed man reportedly resisted the anti-negative phenomena force, prompting them to shoot him in the foot. He was then arrested and taken to the Nyala South Police Station.
The witnesses indicated that a group of the detainee’s relatives stormed the police station where the detainee was being held in a heavily armed four-wheel-drive vehicle in an attempt to free him. Clashes erupted, resulting in the killing and wounding of civilians and RSF soldiers, and the burning of large parts of the the police station.
In the same context, residents reported that the sound of gunfire was heard until the late hours of the evening in the Karari neighborhood, known locally before calm returned to the city after a curfew was declared.
A recently formed anti-negative phenomena force was involved in a similar incident last March, in which five soldiers were killed. They are tired of the Rapid Support Forces.
Nyala is witnessing intense movement these days in preparation for the formation of a parallel government. This includes removing the checkpoints established by the Rapid Support Forces, combating negative phenomena, and assigning security to the city’s federal police.
The Rapid Support Forces, armed movements, and Sudanese political forces signed a political declaration in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, forming the Sudan Founding Alliance (Tassis). This was followed by the adoption of a transitional constitution in preparation for the establishment of a parallel government.
The Tassis Alliance chose Nyala as the administrative capital of the parallel government.