Kadugli, July 22(Darfur 24)
Armed clashes erupted on Monday in Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan State, between the Sudanese army forces (SAF) and the Kafi Tayyar forces, an armed militia supporting the army.
The clashes erupted following threats issued by some members of SAF to owners of some corn mills, in addition to the army withdrawing quantities of flour and corn from mills and commercial warehouses, according to local sources.
Sources told Darfur 24 that the city of Kadugli witnessed a complete closure of all shops in the market following an armed clash between SAFand the Kafi Tayyar militia.
The sources added that the clashes began when the militia, along with some army personnel, broke down the doors of the market’s commercial warehouses and allowed citizens to seize quantities of flour and maize.
They confirmed that SAFwere forced to withdraw from the site of the clash due to the large number of the armed militia, in addition to the increasing attacks by citizens on the commercial warehouses after they were allowed to take goods from inside.
Residents of Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan state, are facing deteriorating living conditions, amid warnings of an impending humanitarian disaster that could reach the level of famine, according to local sources.
The SAF has monopolized the maize trade, bringing it from its warehouses with artillery, the 55th Brigade, and the warehouses of the 14th Division to specific sales centers in the Kadugli market, according to an informed source.
The informed source said that SAF commanders held a meeting over the past two days with local administrations during the “Kadogli where they reassured citizens that they would reduce the price of a sack from 600,000 to 500,000 pounds. They also stated that the army had 7,000 sacks of maize that would be distributed to sales centers at a price of 11,000 pounds per malwa.
He added, “After that, a large quantity of maize was sold on the black market at a high price of 28,000 pounds.” He continued, ” SAF is doing this to prevent citizens from raiding the warehouses.”
The source confirmed that no merchant in the market has the financial means to trade in food except for one merchant, who is considered an agent for the SAF , security, and police, who alone possess large quantities of stored maize. He added, “This merchant currently owns more than 25,000 sacks of maize.”
He confirmed that SAF agent distributes only one or two sacks of maize per day to sales centers, which forces citizens to wait two or three days to receive just one malwa of maize.
The source accused the executive director of the Kadugli locality and SAF , police, and security forces of… He also pointed out that security authorities had prevented traders from obtaining permits to bring goods from Deling and sell them at reasonable prices, while army personnel were deployed to bring goods from Deling.