An officer with the Sudan Shield militia (Dir‘ al-Sudan), which is aligned with General al-Burhan’s army (SAF), shot and killed seven people during a confrontation with protesters in Gedaref State, according to local sources.
Residents in Al-Qadambaliya, in the Rural Central Gedaref locality, had blocked the main Gedaref–Wad Madani highway to protest the seizure of a farmland plot by a local trader. A lieutenant colonel from Sudan Shield arrived with several men and tried to force the road open. When demonstrators resisted, the officer opened fire with a machine gun, killing five on the spot and wounding others, the sources said.
Relatives of the dead and other villagers then attacked the officer’s vehicle, killing him and one of his escorts and setting their car on fire.
State police said in a statement that several civilians were killed and five others injured. A joint force was dispatched, the state security committee held an emergency meeting, and the governor led a team to the scene. Authorities said the situation was contained and that legal procedures and investigations are under way.
The incident highlights growing public fears about the spread of irregular armed groups and unchecked weapons in previously quiet areas.
