Abducted engineers released in East Darfur

Two engineers abducted by an armed group on 6 October in East Darfur were released on Friday, according to Radio Dabanga.

Two engineers abducted by an armed group on 6 October in East Darfur were released on Friday, according to Radio Dabanga.

Khojali Yousef Hassan El Tom, engineer at the East Darfur State Ministry of Planning, and Ahmed Hamed Dud, contractor, were kidnapped by gunmen when they were on their way from Ed Daein to Khartoum to visit their families.

The engineers were released on Friday evening after payment of a ransom of SDG250,000 ($43,570).

One of their relatives told Radio Dabanga that the engineers had been held in the area of Um Waragat, about 10 km west of Ed Daein, capital of East Darfur.

The kidnappers had originally demanded a ransom a ransom of SDG200,000 ($35,170) for the release of Dud, and SDG150,000 ($26,380) for El Tom.

File photo: A Darfuri militiaman, wearing a uniform of the security forces, rests under a tree (Andrew Carter)