Um Dukhun, December 1 (Darfur24)
Residents of Um Dukhun in Central Darfur State said on Monday that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have allegedly begun rehabilitating and paving the road that links Sudan with Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR), a project launched at the beginning of last week.
Um Dukhun lies at the tri-border area between Sudan, Chad, and the CAR, about 300 kilometers south of Zalingi, the capital of Central Darfur.
A resident of Um Dukhun, who requested anonymity, told Darfur24 that heavy machinery started work last Sunday on paving the border route toward Chad and the CAR, specifically in the Al-Mazlaqan area.
He said the road has been a major corridor for commercial transport since last year, with goods such as peanuts, Gum Arabic, charcoal, and “ambaz” moving from Darfur into Chad, in addition to the smuggling of gold from the Sangho region into Chad through the same route.
A Darfur24 correspondent in Umm Dukhun reported that the sounds of heavy trucks and small vehicles can be heard passing through the area at night, particularly between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m., as they cross from Chad into Sudan.
The correspondent’s account aligns with information from the eyewitness, who said more than thirty heavy vehicles are working on rehabilitating the cross-border road, including loaders, rollers and soil-transport trucks.
He added that many cars and goods looted from inside Sudan are transported to the Central African Republic along the same route, while looted items from Chad and the Central African Republic are also brought into Sudan through Um Dukhun.
Umm Dukhun, a border town administered by Central Darfur State, is under RSF control and includes more than four border administrative units, among them Abu Jaradil, Kubar and Wastani.