Couple Dragged and Severely Injured in janjaweed attack

March 20, 2007

In a brutal attack, a Darfurian man and woman were dragged by nooses around their necks and were left for dead.  Al-sheikh Adam, age 63, and his wife, whose name was not disclosed, reported being attacked on the evening of March 16, 2007 by five janjaweed militia members and a member of the Sudanese army. 

The attack took place in the area of Grery, about 20 km east of Al-Geneina. Adam and his wife were walking to Grery with a donkey to collect firewood and kindling.  The assailants approached on horseback and knocked Adam to the ground.  They beat him viciously, broke his hand, and stabbed him in the thigh.  They then looped a rope around his neck and dragged him behind one of the horses.

When Adam’s wife attempted to intervene she, too, was beaten.  The assailants looped a rope around her neck and dragged her around on the ground by hand until she was unconscious.

Details of the attack were reported by the victims to Damanga correspondents living in Kernang refugee camp, located about 5 km east of Al-Geneina, where the couple also reside.  The correspondents discovered the victims on the following morning at the site of the attack, where the couple had lain, severely injured and exposed, throughout the night.  The victims were taken to the main hospital in Al-Geneina, where their current condition is unknown. 

Adam and his wife allege that the Sudanese soldier who took part in the attack had three stripes on his uniform, indicating the rank of sergeant.

The couple hail originally from Arafa village, which is one of many that has been destroyed in the Sudanese government’s campaign against ethnic black Africans in Darfur.