Three employees of the international aid organization GOAL and 14 of the Sudanese organization SAK were abducted in Darfur on Wednesday, though some of the latter group were later released.

Speaking to Radio Dabanga, multiple sources said that three people working at the Irish aid organization, including the country director, and 14 of SAK, among them the head of the Kutum branch and an engineer, were kidnapped in Kutum town in North Darfur on Wednesday morning.

“Militiamen in three Land Cruisers stopped the GOAL country director and two staff members who were on their way to Kutum airport at about 11am on Wednesday. They pulled them from their vehicle at gunpoint and took them to an unknown destination,” an eyewitness said.

At about the same time, gunmen in Land Cruisers abducted 14 employees of the Sudanese SAK organization, in the area of Um Lyon in Kutum locality, witnesses reported.

“Twelve of them plus two SAK vehicles were released after lengthy negotiations. It was agreed that SAK would pay SDG 50,000 per vehicle. The kidnappers then left, with the SAK North Darfur branch head and a local engineer, towards the nomadic village of Masree,” said a local source.

The sources noted that the number of abductions has increased in North Darfur, saying it has become a common criminal practice to earn money.

Reporting by Radio Dabanga