CNN's chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward shares the harrowing experience she and her crew had when they were captured by militias in Darfur.
“We came to Darfur to report on the world's worst humanitarian crisis, and we had no intention of participating in it. But the moment we were captured by a paramilitary group led by the man everyone called General… , months of planning fell apart,” Ward said. I wrote it on Wednesday.
Ward described how he was on his way to a town in Sudan to cover the ongoing humanitarian crisis unfolding during the country's civil war, which has been disrupted by wars between Ukraine and Russia and wars between Israel and Hamas. She stressed that the crisis is being overshadowed in the media.
“According to the United Nations, more than 10 million people, nearly a quarter of Sudan's population, have been forced to flee due to violence. More than 26 million people, more than three times the population of New York City, face severe hunger. ” she told readers.
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CNN's chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward shares her harrowing experience being captured by militias in Darfur. (Lee Vogel/Getty Images for Concordia Summit)
CNN crews were granted access to the war-torn area after months of negotiations. However, when they arrived at the planned meeting point, they found no hosts and instead found a militia group.
“They had two Toyota Land Cruiser pickup trucks loaded with rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns,” Ward wrote. “Our driver was taken in chains to the town jail. For three hours, he was interrogated one by one in a small windowless room. About eight men asked questions: 'Why? “Who sent you here?” “Who gave you permission to come here?” We answered their questions, but We had no information about who they were or what they wanted from us. ”
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Ward aimed to shine a spotlight on the humanitarian crisis occurring in Sudan, which is embroiled in civil war. (MARTIN BERTRAND/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images)
The gunmen then ordered Ward's crew and driver to follow them on a dirt road.
“That's when the general suddenly stopped his car and started yelling at us before firing his gun, probably to scare us, and it worked,” Ward said. said.
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After they parked again, Ward attempted to plead directly with the General to release them.
“'Please, we are very scared,' I told them in broken Arabic. 'I am a mother. I have three little boys.' The general seemed unconcerned. But I saw the head of security's face soften, and he said to me, 'Don't be scared, don't be scared,' and 'we're human,''' Ward recalled. “For the next 48 hours, we were held under armed guard by the general, the security chief, and approximately 12 soldiers, some of whom appeared to be under the age of 14. Our captivity was spent outdoors under an acacia tree. Being a woman and not having a private space to rest myself, I limited my water and food intake, but when it came, sleep was a mercy and when I could see my children. It freed me from the panic of not knowing.”
Ward said she and her crew were interrogated for hours by paramilitary groups on suspicion of being spies. (Arnold Gerocchi/Getty Images, Warner Bros. Discovery)
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After several hours of absence, the general and security chief returned and told the CNN crew the good news.
“It has been decided that you will be released tomorrow. We thought you were a spy, but now you can go home,” Ward wrote. “A wave of relief washed over me. There were smiles and handshakes with the prisoners. We awkwardly posed for photos on the edge of the mat that was our makeshift prison.”
“Our ordeal is over. We are unharmed and soon to return home. Fear and worry quickly gave way to intense feelings of disappointment and failure. We never made it to Tawila. We lost our lives. “We have been unable to speak to the people of Darfur. This brutal civil war has left us with untold stories that the world will never hear,” she added.
