Two children among eight villagers killed at a mosque in Sudan’s Darfur region on Sunday when Arab tribesmen attacked them during prayers in revenge killing. All killed by bullets to the head or chest.
“There was a dispute between an Arab and a Masalit man over a payment in the local market yesterday (Sunday)… In the ensuing quarrel, the Arab lashed the Masalit man with a whip, and he then stabbed the Arab to death with a knife.” Sultan Saad Baherddin told AFP by telephone from Geneina hospital.
Arab supporters of the dead man later gathered and demanded compensation from the villagers of Arzini, When the villagers failed to raise the hefty compensation during the day, gunmen attacked them in the evening when they were praying in the village mosque
“There is tension in Geneina. The authorities have deployed soldiers across the town’s main streets,” a resident said to AFP
The authorities have ordered the town’s main market to be closed, and government offices have been shut for the day.
Darfur has been gripped by conflict since 2003, when ethnic minority rebels rose up against the Arab-dominated regime of President Omar al-Bashir.
