Ethiopian gunmen kidnapped five people in eastern Sudan’s El Gedaref state on Sunday.
The chairman of the legislative council of Basanda locality told Radio Dabanga that five herders and farmers were abducted in the areas of Atarab and Tegelein on Sunday. The gunmen contacted their families and demanded a ransom for their release.
The kidnapping is not the first one in the area by far, the chairman said. “Many people, in particular from the eastern part of the locality, and the areas of Khor Saad and Wad Abu Taher have been kidnapped during the last months.
“The people of nine villages near the border have left their homes owing to the repeated attacks by Ethiopian gunmen. The villages are now inhabited by relatives of those gunmen.”
The local politician demanded the authorities to intervene, and set up a number of security posts along the Sudanese-Ethiopian border to monitor the area.