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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Mark Townsend in Adré

‘Here, there is no future’: ethnic cleansing and fresh atrocities drive exodus of thousands from Darfur

Nadifa Ismail arrives in Chad with her five surviving children.
Nadifa Ismail arrives in Chad with her five surviving children. The family are Masalit, and have been targeted in Darfur by the Rapid Support Forces. Photograph: Mark Townsend/The Guardian

They burst into the room, yanking the boy from under a bed. His brown eyes wide open with terror, they put a gun to his temple. Two shots. Nadifa Ismail ran towards the body, but the intruders shoved the mother out of her home. Moments later, armed men set it ablaze, cremating her child’s body, destroying everything she had.

Weeks later, at 4pm on 28 February in Sudan’s Darfur region, Nadifa, her clothing streaked red with dust, passed the paramilitary group who had executed her 16-year-old son shortly after breakfast.

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