Al-Tina, June 30 (Darfur24)
Families and community leaders in North and South Darfur say dozens of civilians are feared dead or missing after a convoy of travelers was ambushed in the desert between Al-Tina and Ad-Dabba, with survivors accusing the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of carrying out the attack.
Three families from the town of Kutila, southwest of Nyala, told Darfur24 that they had been informed of the deaths of their sons while they were traveling to Northern State. The victims were identified as Wael Amer Hussein Musa Daoud, 20, Adam Jar Al-Nabi Adam Yusuf, 23, and Abubakr Zaher Musa Daoud, 22.
Mohammed Ali, a relative of the victims, said survivors of the attack informed the families that the three young men were killed along with other passengers after the convoy was ambushed deep in the North Darfur desert. He said the families had already begun mourning after receiving news of their deaths.
Haroun Khater, a community leader in North Darfur, said three members of his family were among a group of travelers seen in videos circulating on social media before contact with them was lost. He identified the missing as Ali Adam Khater, Anwar Abkar Khamis Khater, Mubarak Hamed, Salah Mukhtar Khamis, Al-Nour Mur Jaber Khater and Imad Ali Hammad.
Khater said the group, all from the town of Bredik, northwest of El Fasher, was traveling to artisanal mining areas in Northern State. He added that unconfirmed reports suggest that more than 40 people traveling in four passenger vehicles may have been killed.
Abdel Nasser Idris also told Darfur24 that he lost contact with two relatives after they left the Chadian border town of Adré, crossed into Al-Tina and continued toward Ad-Dabba. He said he recognized them in the circulating videos, but their fate remains unknown.
Darfur24 verified videos published on June 18 by armed men wearing RSF uniforms in which civilians were questioned about their names, hometowns and tribal affiliations. Other videos appeared to show some of the detainees being shot.
A source in the Joint Force in Al-Tina told Darfur24 that four civilian Land Cruiser vehicles departed the town on June 18 for Ad-Dabba alongside three Joint Force vehicles traveling on what the source described as an administrative mission to eastern Sudan.
According to the source, the convoy was intercepted by RSF fighters approximately two days after leaving Al-Tina. Two civilian vehicles and one Joint Force vehicle escaped, while the remaining Joint Force vehicles were destroyed and the attackers captured the two other civilian vehicles along with their passengers.
The source said travelers had previously relied on remote desert routes to avoid RSF-controlled areas, but recent deployments by the force in the region enabled the convoy to be intercepted.
Darfur24 was unable to obtain a comment from the Rapid Support Forces regarding the allegations or the fate of the civilians who appeared in the videos.