An episode of TPLF-Khartoum regime-sponsored terrorism:
Despair and frustration behind terrorists’ criminal acts on behalf of others
: Part I
By: Eritrea Profile
July 8, 2004
The TPLF regime’s security forces masterminded through collaboration with the
Khartoum regime the launching of a terrorist attack which it called the “Operation
of the Day of Sadness”. This came as an evil attempt to transform the 13th Independence
Day Anniversary celebration to moments of tragic suffering. However, the occasion
was observed with great patriotic zeal on the part of our popular masses and
with all the honor and appreciation of the sacrifices of our national struggle
martyrs. It is to be stressed here that some terrorist elements infiltrated
to Eritrea from Sudan to carry out subversive operations at various places were
arrested while others were captured by the Eritrean Defense Forces and the security
organs.
Following we present excerpts from the interview made with one of these captured
terrorists who were sent to Eritrea by the security forces of both Khartoum
and the TPLF regimes to carry out acts of sabotage during our people’s celebrations
of the Independence Day when big gatherings were observing the national occasion.
The instructions given to this terrorist by his sponsors and instigators were:
“the fundamental purpose is to inflict heavy causalities and damage on the innocent
gatherings of civilians.” Such orientation, no doubt, demonstrates the worst
type of terrorism, a devilish act that reveals the inhumane character of terrorists
and their instigators and financers.
This was one of the characteristics of the terrorist attack planned and masterminded
by the TPLF regime against Eritrea. Also it is an evidence that the resources
allocated by the international alliance for combating terrorism for those which
it considered as partners in fighting terrorists like the TPLF regime are exploiting
those same resources for expanding the scope of terrorist operations!
By all measures terrorism is an indication of weakness and despair especially
the terrorist operations which the Khartoum and the TPLF regimes waged by their
agents against Eritrea after the TPLF open invasion was utterly crushed. Actually,
those who lost confidence become desperate and accordingly resort to terrorist
operations.
In this context, one of the facts which these regimes seem not to comprehend
is that the Eritrean people and their government has proved always capable to
defeat and crush their enemies whether they come as terrorists or invaders.
Sidigh Mohammed Khalifa Story
This terrorist was born in Kassala in Al-Sawagi Al-Janoubia-Al-Sabil, Sudan
in 1983. He is of Eritrean decent. He was grown up with his family in Sudan.
He left school after finishing the 7th grade in Al-Houria Elementary School
in Kassala. He said he abandoned school in 1997 to start working to help his
parents. He said he worked as a farm laborer in Al-Sawagi “small agricultural
projects” for growing fruits, vegetables etc.. until 2002. His father, he said
has cattle and sheep herd and had no other source of income. Because of his
old age, he explained, he can not do any other work, and he totally depends
on that herd. He says: “ my father entered Sudan in the first wave of migration.
He had earlier in 1950 visited Sudan. He worked there and got married to a woman.
After her death he married my mother, Halima Fayed Ali in Eritrea. In the nineteen
eighties of last century he entered Kassala with her as refugees. The eldest
of my brothers is called Khamis, followed by Adam who is now working in the
Eritrean Defence Forces. Adam is married and has got children who live in Fanko.
My brother Ibrahim who is currently living in Telatasher (western Eritrea) is
working in agriculture. He is not married until now. Then there is my brother
Jimai who works as a mechanic in Tessenei. He carries also a Sudanese identity
card in the name of Adam because he had been living in Sudan as well as a Sudanese
nationality document and a Sudanese driving license. He returned to Eritrea
since 1998. Since his entering Eritrea he started working as an assistant to
drivers in Sudanese lorries which move with goods between Sudan and Eritrea.
At present he is working in a garage for cars repair in Tessenei. He is known
by the name Jimai despite the fact that his name in the ID and document papers
is Adam. I was born after Jimai. Then came my brother Abdalla who is deaf and
dumb. I have four sisters. In May 2000 I entered Eritrea with the returnee refugees
through Alafa the Sudanese checkpoint where I visited some relatives of mine
at Telatasher, the Eritrean checkpoint. I stayed there for 4 days and after
visiting some of myfamily members in Eritrea I returned to the Sudan. In June
2001 I returned to Eritrea again through Alafa. I did not have an Eritrean ID
because I was under eighteen then. I only showed them at the border checkpoint
my refugee ID which I managed to get at Kassala. During my second visit I visited
my brother Jimai at Tessenie. I stayed for some period with him helping him
in the garage and as an errand boy bringing for him his work requirements. I
stayed there for about 2 months. I told him later that I wanted to travel to
Kassala to work there in the season of autumn in Assawagi. I had intermittent
visits to my brother Jimai in Tessenei. I continued working in the Assawagi
until the end of 2002. I had a meager income from this work. On the Eid (religious
festival) occasion I went there with my brother Jimai to Kassala for spending
the Eid vacation there. There we visited one of our relatives called Mohammed
Idris Shengheb who lives in Hilet-Ghasab in Kassala. He works in a pharmacy
in shaebia block 22. It is a medical dispensary, affiliated to Al-Ihsan charitable
society. We stayed with this relative for a whole day. He asked us about our
living conditions and whether we were satisfied with our daily work. On our
part we gave him a full idea about our conditions and hard life. He promised
us to search for us a better work and bigger income in order to be able to save
some money for the future. He assured us that the work he was going to find
for us require secrecy and to be extremely loyal. At that moment he did not
explain to us the nature of this work. He only stressed that it needed keeping
secrets. After this talk with him we started visiting him often. I started asking
him about the nature of the work. He repeated the same requirements. I used
to visit him at his work place and at home. Jimai was not with me during those
visits as he returned to Tessenei and I stayed at Kassala.
I have some relation from my mother’s side with this Shengheb. He is like an
uncle for me. Accordingly I used to visit him often. And I was keen to know
the nature of the work. At last he explained and organized a meeting through
a personality in Al-Jihad movement telling us that we have to carry out all
instructions precisely. He said that they would be proud if we carry out our
work and tasks successfully. I had a meeting through Shengheb with Alamin known
by a nickname called Abou -Anass who is dark in complexion with bushy beard.
I think he is one of these people living in Kassala. I met him in the pharmacy
where Shengheb works. I was introduced to him and we agreed to meet at Al-Weghaya
Mosque near the old eastern cinema of Kassala after the evening prayer outside
the Mosque. We went together to his house nearby the mosque. It is an ordinary
house there was no family living there. We sat at the saloon.
The first task he assigned me was to collect information about Eritrea. The
nature of that information was general from the townships of Tessenie and Goluge,
the general situation and the government situation, people’s condition etc...
He asked me to collect information from those who repeatedly go on visits between
Eritrea and Sudan. He warned us not to leak secrets. He asked us to take oath
on the Holy Koran. And we did so after washing for prayer. He asked me to go
to Eritrea under the pretext of looking for work. But my mission fundamentally
was to collect information. I arrived at Tessenei, and I was supposed to monitor
the Tessenei road and collect information through my brother Jimai who was residing
there. My mission also was to collect information about government administrations
and institutions, the movements of the army, the guarding system and inspection
at checkpoints. Before leaving for discharging my duties Abou-Anass gave me
100,000 Sudanese pounds.
In answering the question when he entered Eritrea after he received the money,
he answered saying: “In the first trip I entered like any other citizen I got
the travel document this was at the end of December and at the beginning of
January 2002. After arriving at Tessenei I met my brother Jimai and I told him
of the information, instructions and regulations. He took the oath after washing
for prayer. I informed him on the system of work and the task assigned to us
answering in this respect his questions. I told him I met Abou-Anass and received
from him the information and instructions. We then agreed to divide the tasks.
Jimai’s task was to collect information from inside Eritrea, and mine was to
transfer the information back to Kassala as well monitoring the situation on
Tessenei-Kassala road.
The first phase of this information collection took about a week and then I
returned to Sudan. The information that we collected was about the movement
of the army especially in the direction of Goluge. I returned to Sudan illegally
without passing through checkpoints. It took us actually one week to do that
task because my brother Jimai knows a lot of people and officials who used to
come for their car repair at the garage. This made it easy for him to collect
information.
I gave the report on this information directly after my returning to Kassala
to Abou-Anass whom I contacted through his mobile telephone No 012341938. I
told him that I was back from Eritrea, and he asked me to meet him at his old
house after the evening prayers. After providing him with the new information
we collected, he gave me 50,000 Sudanese pounds, and we agreed on another appointment
after two days. I went to my family in Al-Sawagi in Kassala. Next day Abou-Anass
expressed his pleasure, and assigned me an additional task i.e. collecting information
about the state’s officials daily routine and leisure time, and the places which
they frequent. He assigned us to spread rumors and lies about officials escaping
from the country, and saying that a person had been imprisoned and an official
had been sucked from his position etc.. He gave me a sum of 200,000 Sudanese
Pounds for the expenses. This time I entered Eritrea through Girmaika after
getting a pass document for the purpose.
On arriving at Tessenei I met my brother Jimai, and I briefed him on the new
and old instructions. Regarding the rumors which I started spreading like the
escape of officials, that the government is on the verge of collapse and alleging
that the prisons are full of detainees and that the country is suffering of
a great famine, and the army members are taking refugee to neighboring countries.
Then I started looking for information about the government officials, their
names and administrative positions.
We used to spread these kinds of rumors in the places frequented by agricultural
workers, like Wedi Leghese’s Agricultural Project, the sport and social clubs
inside the city and mourning households and wedding ceremonies houses. We collected
information about Commander Osman Abu Tewila regarding his movements, the time
of his getting out of his house and his guards Abdu Osman and Jemal who works
in the police force as well as the places which they frequent in the town.
I returned to Kassala after a week without a pass through the area of Telatasher
, because I preferred to move around like an ordinary citizen residing inside
the country and working in Sawagi. My purpose was to camouflage my frequent
and continuous movement between Kassala and Tessenei.
I met Abou-Anass through contacting him at his old house and I provided him
with the new information. He asked me about the situation on the road and the
system of guarding, patrols and inspection along it. I told him that there was
not inspection regarding the traveler’s luggage and the concentration is only
on checking the IDs and travel documents. He told me to meet him after two days,
and he gave me 50,000 Sudanese Pounds. I went to meet my people at Sawagi, Kassala.
I used to meet Mohammed Idris Shengheb now and then. We were told not to let
him know about the information which I collected and the nature of my work.
After two days I met Abou-Anass again, and he gave me instructions to work for
getting an Eritrean ID for facilitating my moves in going and coming back between
Eritrea and Sudan. He asked me to have a pass with my address in Kassala. I
tried to obtain the ID, and I received the money for that purpose i.e. 500,000
Sudanese Pounds as well as for my moves expenses. I reached Tessenei and I tried
to start the procedure for getting the ID. I went to the quarter’s administration
accompanied by three witnesses. There they told me that giving ID’s for people
living in Sudan was stopped for the moment. I was directed to go to the area
of the father and grandfather birthplace. Accordingly I went to Barentu in the
company of my aunt to the towns of administration. They asked me to bring my
father’s ID, and the certificate proving my residence in Sudan. I came to realize
that obtaining an ID was impossible for me, and I gave up the idea. I returned
to Tessenei and I met my brother there. I informed him about the difficulty
of obtaining the ID and that we had our main task to do i.e. collecting the
required information. We came to know that the army stationed at Tessenei is
assigned to guard and protect government warehouses, the electricity corporation
and the headquarters of the security in town. Then I headed towards the border
area, and I came to know that the army was in a continuous move in the region.
Then I returned to Kassala.
On being back I met with Abou-Anass on the second day after taking rest. I provided
him with all the information we collected, and he told me to go home and rest
for a while. He asked me to keep contact to know the news. This took about a
month and a half. I contacted him in May 2003, and he told me to tell my brother
Jimai to come, and accordingly I went to Tessenei to tell him about this. Both
of us went to Kassala though the area of Telatasher without a pass. I contacted
Abou-Anass telling him that Jimai had come. He told me we had to meet him after
the evening prayer at Al-Wakaya Mosque at the end of the prayer. He told us
to walk behind him until the Halanga bus stop where we took the bus till we
reached Al-Amarat quarter and descended there. He walked in front of us and
we followed in the western direction of the quarter on the Gash River. After
a short distance he came to a big door and he opened and we entered behind him.
There is a big yard in the house. He put some chairs and we sat drinking some
fruit juices. After a while he told us that an important personality was going
to meet you.
The important official whose name was Osman came and Abou-Anass stood up to
meet him. We were scared, we stood up also. He greeted us and we sat down with
Osman. He is a short man and dark in complexion with a long beard, I had never
seen him in town or at the market place. There was no family in house which
we entered. After Abou-Anass introduced to us to him saying that these were
the people of Mohammed Idris Shengheb, they are good active boys and I brought
them to meet you in order to assess them by yourself. Osman greeted us again
and welcomed us warmly. He asked Jimai about Tessenei and whether he knew it
thoroughly well. He asked him whether he was married. Jimai told him about Tessenei
and the situation in general. He asked me about the situation between Kassala
and Tessenei. Then Osman said that the task you entered was a very big task,
and if you succeeded your conditions were going to improve considerably. He
told us we would obtain big sums of money, and we would say goodbye to poverty.
He stressed that our work needed total secrecy and that as we were young boys
he would tell us to go to kill this person or that, and that our mission would
be to take things inside Eritrea. These things he told us were light weapons,
which we should transport to Eritrea.