Unknown gunmen killed two shopkeepers from Sudan's Darfur region yesterday on the eve of the first anniversary of a massacre of hundreds of Sudanese traders in South Sudan last year.

The two men were attacked in the early hours of the morning on Tuesday. Abdul Khalig Dudin, one of the council of Darfur chiefs in Juba, identified the two traders as Hassan Osman and Khalid Yahia. 

The slayings came as Sudanese traders were preparing to mark the first anniversary of a massacre of hundreds of men most of who were from Darfur, which took place on 15 April last year when the SPLA-IO rebel group took over Bentiu town.

According to the Darfur chief, the two slain traders had not had any problems with anybody so it was hard to understand why they were killed. He told Radio Tamazuj that possibly it was a robbery.

Police spokesman Col. James Monday Enoka said the incident took place at around 4:00 on Tuesday morning, blaming a gang of criminals in the Gudele West residential area in Juba.

Enoka said unknown men opened fire on the two victims identified as Sudanese nationals while they were sleeping inside their compound. He said that both of them died on spot.

Meanwhile, Sudanese traders closed their businesses yesterday. Hamza Abdul Rasoul, spokesman of Darfur chiefs in Juba, told Radio Tamazuj that they will keep their shops closed today in solidarity with victims of the Bentiu massacre. 

File photo: Sudanese community in Juba mourning after the Bentiu massacre last year